Love Through All the Pain
by kittenamos
Summary: (Paused) Emmett and Bay's relationship is going strong, until one of Bay's classmates starts to make a move at her. What happens when he can't take no for an answer? Rated T for abuse in later chapters
1. Prologue

Hey guys! I have been thinking about this plot idea for a while and have finally decided to write it down. This is my first Switched At Birth FanFiction story. I hope you all like it. I will **not** update this story until I get 5 reviews for the first chapter, so please read and review.

I do not own Switched At Birth

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

I can't imagine my life being any better then this.

My beautiful girlfriend and I where lying on our stomachs across my bed. We had just finished flipping through my photo album and where now getting started on Bay's sketchbook.

As Bay slowly began to flip through the book, I had to force myself to keep my eyes on the drawings and not on her. I couldn't believe that a girl like Bay was actually in my room.

Bay was beautiful, smart, funny, sarcastic, and an amazing artist. I couldn't understand why a girl like her would be interested in a guy like me.

I was Deaf, but Bay didn't seem to care about that. She treated me like she would treat any of her friends . . . or boyfriends. She was even trying to learn my language to help with the communication breach between us and that meant more to me then anything else.

"What?" Bay asked, dragging her index finger down the palm of her other hand to perform the sign.

I hadn't realized that I had begun to stare at her again. "Nothing," I mouthed, making to O's with my hands and touching them together.

She propped herself up on her elbows and continued to sign as she talked, "What are you thinking?"

Instead of answering, I leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips.

I loved the feeling of my lips against hers. I loved the way my stomached flipped every time we got close to each other. I loved just being with her.

I started kissing down her jaw and down her neck. I smiled when I felt her throat vibrate as she moaned at the feel of my lips against her skin. Moving back up to her lips we continued to make out until Bay gentle pushed me away.

"I have to get home. School tomorrow," Bay said and signed what she could.

"Need a ride?" I asked.

Bay smiled and nodded. She then bent down to pick up her forgetting sketchbook off the floor before getting up to put on her shoes.

We headed down the stairs and out the door towards my motorcycle that was parked right outside the garage. I used to park it inside, but now the garage was filled with boxes of Regina's stuff. There was no room for the bike inside right now.

I handed Bay the spare helmet before getting on the bike and putting on my own helmet. I waited as Bay clipped the helmet under her chin and got on the bike. When she had her arms around my waist I started up the bike and heading down the driveway.

The whole drive to Bay's house all I could think about was how close are bodies where to each other.

I turned my motorcycle into Bay's driveway before coming to a complete stop in front of her house.

Bay took the extra helmet off her head before hoping off the bike. "Thanks for the ride."

"Of course," I signed before lightly grabbing her arm and pulling her towards me for one more kiss.

Bay smiled when we pulled apart. I loved that smile and I loved it even more that I was what was making her so happy.

"Pick me up from school tomorrow?" Bay asked and signed.

I nodded and watched as she walked away from me and towards her house.

I never would have thought that I would fall in love with a hearing girl.

Yeah, that's right. I was in love.

Head of heals in love.

All I could think about on the ride home was Bay.

For the past eight years I had had a crush on Daphne. It's hard to believe that just a couple weeks ago I had thought my feels for Daphne had been love. That wasn't love at all. The way I feel about Bay is so much stronger then my feelings for Daphne had ever been.

Bay might be my first girlfriend, but I knew that this was what love was supposed to feel like.

An overwhelming feeling of happiness was flowing through my mind and body. I never wanted this feeling to go away. I had only known Bay for a short time but I could easily say that she was one of my best friends, but more . . . a lot more.

She had been through a lot over the last couple of weeks, finding out about the switch, trying to find her father, and then finding out that her mom knew about the switch when she and Daphne where three years old and not doing anything about it over the years that followed.

No matter what happens in the future, I was going to be here for her.

I would do anything for her.


	2. Chapter 1

Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews. I'm glad you like my new story. Check out my other FanFiction stories as well! Anyway, here is the next chapter. Once again I will **not** upload the next chapter until I get 5 more reviews. Thanks again for reading!

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

I couldn't wait for tomorrow. All I wanted to do was to see Bay again. To hold her . . . kiss her. I missed her already.

I turned my motorcycle back into my driveway and parked it right outside the garage where it was before and set my helmet on the seat.

Entering the house, I decided to get some of my homework done. Not only did I have a paper due tomorrow, but I also needed something to occupy my time besides thinking about Bay. I brought my backpack into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I took out a textbook and some paper and got to work.

As I tried to write, my mind kept drifting off to Bay. Her thick black hair, the shape of her face, her dark eyes, her bright smile, and those lips . . .

She was perfect.

She was everything I wanted in a girlfriend. She was hot, smart, into motorcycles, and although she wasn't Deaf she was learning the language.

_What was she doing right now? _

_Was she thinking about me? _

Granted, it took me longer than it normally would for me to write the paper.

I was just finishing up the conclusion paragraph when my mom walked in to start dinner. I packed up my stuff and started to head out of the kitchen.

My mom waved to get my attention. "Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes," she signed.

I nodded and headed up stairs to my room. I put my backpack by my desk and strolled over to look at my pictures hanging on the wall.

The first time Bay was in here the photos had been mostly of Daphne. I thought back to Bay's reaction of seeing all the photos of the girl that I had had a crush on for eight years. She hadn't liked it well at all. At the time, I had used a blanket to cover up the photos to show her that I didn't care about Daphne like that. Not anymore. I smiled at the memory.

They were still mostly of Daphne, but Bay was in quite a few now too. I had taking some more over the last couple of days and wanted to get them hang up before Bay came over next time.

I went to lie down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened over the last couple of days.

Bay's life had turned upside down when she found out about the switch. Come to think of it, life had been turned upside down for everyone who was involved in the situation.

I turned onto my side and looked at the photo of Bay and I together that I had framed and placed on the table by my bed.

I couldn't wait to see her tomorrow.

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><p>I woke up the next morning to my vibrating alarm clock. Grudgingly, I turned it on snooze and was planning to roll back under the covers wanting to get some more sleep, but then my eyes fell on to the photo of Bay and I. I smiled and got out of bed to get ready for the day.<p>

I hopped into the shower and brushed my teeth before heading down stairs to grab a quick breakfast and headed out the door.

I pulled up in front of the Kennish's house and honked the horn on my motorcycle, knowing that someone would inform Daphne that I was here to drive her to school. As I hoped, Bay and Toby came out of the house with Daphne, also heading off to school.

Bay waved to me as she headed towards her brother's car and I gave her the "what's up?" nod. I handed Daphne the spare helmet before signing to Bay a reminder that I would pick her up after school tonight.

I watched as Bay got in the passenger seat of Toby's car as Daphne got on the motorcycle behind me.

Then we were off.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

When people first see Buckner Hall they immediately think spoiled, rich kids and they aren't wrong. Buckner is full of them.

I admit I am one of them. My parents have money, a huge house, swimming pool, guesthouse, my art studio, Toby's band equipment, and more. But, unlike me a lot of people here take that as meaning that they are better than everyone else. Making them snobby, annoying, and just hard to be around for to long.

Luckily, I have been able to find a small group of friends that aren't as bad as a lot of the kids here. Although, I doubt that most of them will understand or even try to understand why I liked Emmett so much. He was Deaf. Many people around here will probably shun away from him for simply that alone. A lot of them just won't understand.

The day seemed to crawl by. All I wanted was for the school day to be over so that I could see Emmett.

Finally the bell rang, signaling the end of 5th period. Just one more class and I'll get to see Emmett. I packed up my stuff and headed out the door to meet up with my best friend, Simone.

"Hey, how has your day been?" She asked, a little bounce in her step. She was obviously happy about something.

"Long," I said with a sigh. "How about you?"

"Fine." A smile was spreading across her face. _What was going on with her?_

"Okay, what's up?"

She practically pounced on me with excitement. "Marcus is going to ask you out!"

I could understand why Simone would be excited about that. Marcus was the courter back on the Buckner Hall football team. He was one of the popular kids here on campus. A couple weeks ago just the idea of Marcus wanting to ask me out would have had me ecstatic, but now . . .

"I have a boyfriend," I explained as I tried to push her off me.

"Since when?" She straightened up and looked at me with a disbelieving look on her face.

"A couple weeks," I said as I smoothed out my outfit, which had gotten wrinkled after she attacked me. "We've been keeping it low-key."

Simone just crossed her arms and stared at me. "Marcus asked me this morning if you where seeing anyone and I told him no. He is planning to ask you out at the end of the day."

I turned away from her and started walking towards my next class. I heard her hurry to catch up. "Then I will explain to him the situation after school."

We walked in silence for a while until Simone couldn't stand it anymore.

"I can't believe you are going to turn down Marcus! His cute, popular, and . . ."

"And annoying," I interrupted her.

"You didn't think that two weeks ago."

"Well, now I'm seeing someone else and trust me compared to my boyfriend Marcus is a jerk." Compared to my boyfriend a lot of boys where jerks.

Simone grabbed my shoulder forcing me to stop. "Who are you seeing anyways?"

"His name's Emmett," I said turning to head towards my class again. "He's cute, smart, funny, sweet, an amazing kisser," I explained thinking back to our make out session last night. "And he listens to me even though he can't actually hear me."

"Wait. _**What!**_" Simone spun me around to face her. "What do you mean he can't _hear_ you?"

Well, she was going to find out at some point. "Emmett is Deaf."

She just stared at me. After about a minute of her silence I started to think that she hadn't heard me.

"My boyfriend is . . ." I tried to explain but she interrupted me.

"Hold on. Let me get this straight. **You** are going to turn down **Marcus Myers **to be with some **Deaf kid** instead?"

I looked her in eyes and made what I hoped was a serious expression. "Yes."

I then turned and walked away.


	3. Chapter 2

Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews! Keep them coming. Here is the next chapter. Hope you like it. Please read and review.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

The bell rang just as I was walking into my 6th period class.

I quickly scanned the room and saw Marcus sitting in his usually seat near the back of the room. He was talking and making jokes to his friends, loud and annoying as always. He turned to look at me as I entered.

Simone came running in behind me and, noticing Marcus looking in our direction, headed straight for her seat in the second row.

He turned to watch Simone as she made her way to her desk and then turned back to me. For a second, our eyes made contact and I saw a friendly smile appear on Marcus's face. I quickly turned away and followed Simone to my seat right next to hers.

_He knew that Simone had told me that he was going to ask me out. What he didn't know was that I wasn't going to say yes. _

"Okay class," our History teacher announced and than waited for everyone to stop talking. When everyone was facing forward she continued. "Everyone take out your textbooks and open to page 394. Read the chapter and then answer the five questions. You can work with a partner. When you finish you can leave."

I turned towards Simone, ready to ask if she wanted to be partners. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marcus getting up and heading over to me.

"Hey, want to be partners?" He asked.

"Sorry, I'm with Simone."

"No your not. Dean already asked me."

I turned to see Simone's boyfriend scooting over a chair so they could work together at her desk. I sent Simone a death glare, but she was to busy flipping through the textbook to notice.

I let out a small sigh. "Fine," I said turning back to open my textbook, expecting Marcus to pull up a chair to join me. Instead, I saw him head back to his desk and sat down. I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was doing. Marcus raised is arm and made a 'come over here' gesture. I made a low growling sound through my tooth, before packing up the stuff I needed and headed over to his desk.

I dropped my textbook onto his desk, causing aloud bang and the desk to shake. I then grabbed an empty chair from behind me and dragged it over.

Marcus didn't seem to notice my attitude. He was to busy talking to his friends. I opened my book and waited for him to turn back and help me with the assignment. When he continued to entertain his friends, I started to tap my pen against the desk, getting impatient.

"Are you going to help with this or not?" I asked starting to get ticked off.

"Yeah, hold on," He said turning back to his friends.

I glared at the back of his head. If he wanted to go out with me then why wasn't he paying attention to me or helping me with this assignment. I sighed, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last hour, and started to read the chapter by myself. The sooner I finished this assignment the sooner I could get away from Marcus and see Emmett.

For the whole class, Marcus talked to his friends about sports, movies, teachers; basically everything except the assignment. I don't know how is friends managed to finish it.

Finishing up the assignment, I put my name and my partners (even thought he didn't do **anything**) on the top of the page and stood up to turn it in to the teacher.

Heading back to the desk I gathered up my stuff, preparing to leave.

Marcus stood up to pack, as he finished up the conversation with his friends before they hurried out the door. Marcus stood by the door, waiting for me.

"So . . ." I turned around to see Simone behind me. "Has he asked you yet?"

"Not yet," I said putting my backpack on and heading in the direction of the door, making sure Simone was right behind me. There was no way she was leaving me alone with Marcus when he asked me out.

"Well, that assignment was hard." Marcus exclaimed as he followed us out.

"How would you know?" I asked not even bothering to look at him.

He ignored the question. "Soooo, Bay. Simone told me you aren't seeing anyone right now. What do you say we catch a movie this weekend?"

"No thanks." I replied back as I pushed open the door that would lead us outside. "Not interested."

"Great. So, I'll pick you up at . . ." Marcus started and then froze on the steps. "Wait, did you just say **no**?"

"Technically, I said I'm not interested." I replied, scanning the parking lot for a motorcycle.

I turned to Marcus in time to see him send a questioning look towards Simone.

Just then, Emmett's motorcycle came around the corner and parked right in front of the building. Taking off his helmet, he gave me a little wave.

A huge smile grew on my face.

Marcus put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him, my smile turning to a frown. "You're turning me down?"

"Yeah," I snapped, pushing his hand off my shoulder.

"But . . . why?" He seemed to be in shock.

_Must be the first time someone had said no to him. _

"Well, you're annoying, immature, rude, inconsiderate," I counted each one off with a finger, "loud, naïve, unhelpful," Finally I held my hands up in the 'finished' gesture in sign language. "Stop me, because I could go on forever!" I was getting ticked off by now.

I gave Marcus one last glare, before turning to head towards Emmett, but stopped. I turned halfway back to face Marcus and, using sign language so Emmett could understand this last part, I finished up my explanation.

"Besides, I already have a boyfriend."

_**Simone's Point of View**_

I watched as Bay took a helmet from the kid on the motorcycle. He was signing something to her that Bay answered back with her hands.

"What does she mean she has a boyfriend?" Marcus asked turning to me.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe that she has a boyfriend," I said gesturing in Bay's direction.

"But you told me she didn't."

"She hadn't told me. I just found out about an hour ago."

Marcus and I both watched as Bay and her boyfriend; Emmett, took off on the motorcycle.

Marcus then turned back to look at me. "So, what was Bay doing with her hands just then?"

I kept my eyes on the area where Bay and Emmett had just disappeared from view.

"Her boyfriend is Deaf."


	4. Chapter 3

Hey everyone! Glad you are liking my story. Please keep the reviews coming. I love hearing your opinions about my story. Let me know what you think. So, here is the next chapter. Hope you like it! :D

Also, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve this story or my writing, please let me know. Thanks

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

Bay and I were lying on a blanket in the park, making out.

This had become somewhat of a tradition for us. I would pick Bay up from school about three days a week and we would head straight for the park. Here I would teach Bay more Sign Language, we'd work on homework, and make out. This had become "our place". Afterwards, we would either head to my house and my room or over to Bay's house and her art studio.

The park was where Bay and I could hang out and get to know each other better without worrying about our classmates making comments about how we would never last and that we were wasting are time trying to be together.

I knew of a couple kids from Carlton who had tried going out with hearing people before, but none of them had stayed together long. They would have a lot to say when they found out about Bay and I. But I didn't care what they thought. I loved Bay and I could tell she felt the same way about me.

We would last a long time.

Some things you just know.

Of course, relationships are hard, Deaf or not. To help with this we had made a promise from the beginning to tell each other everything. Not only would this keep us from hurting each other in the future, but it would also help Bay improve her signing.

When I had picked up Bay from school today I had saw her talking to another teenage boy. I wasn't sure what he had asked her when I had first showed up, but whatever it was it seemed to have ticked her off.

_**Earlier that Day**_

I pulled up in front of Bay's school and took off my helmet. I saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs next to her friend Simone, whom I have only met from a far, and a teenage boy I had never seen before.

I waved to Bay and watched as a smile appeared on her face. I loved that smile.

Suddenly, the boy next to her put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look at him.

I froze, considering rather I should go over and see what was going on, but Bay didn't seem to be in trouble. She stood her ground and seemed to be telling the guy off, adding in some hand gestures.

I couldn't help but be proud. Bay was smart and headstrong. For the most part, she could take care of herself just fine.

When she was finished she turned and took a couple steps in my direction, but then decided to add something else to what she had been saying. What she had signed next had thrown me for a loop.

"Besides, I already have a boyfriend."

_Boyfriend? The guy had asked her out?_

I froze, staring daggers at the boy, but he didn't seem to notice. He was to busy staring back at Bay.

_Who was this guy? _

_Why was he asking Bay out?_

I clinched my hands into fists trying to keep them from shaking as I felt my heart beat faster against my chest. I tried to calm myself down as I strained to wrap my mind around this new information.

This was the first time I had ever felt like this. Of course, I had felt hurt and rejected whenever Daphne would go on dates with other guys, but I had **never** felt anything like this.

This was what real jealousy felt like.

I hated the feeling.

I wanted to get off my motorcycle and head over to this guy. I wanted to tell this guy that he had no right to ask out **my **girlfriend. I wanted too . . . but I forced myself to stay seated.

As Bay turned back around to head towards me, I forced the expression on my face to relax. When she got closer I handed her the spare helmet and asked her one of the questions that had been going around in my head.

"Who is that guy?" I signed.

"His name's Marcus. Football player here. Thinks he's all that." Bay said and signed what she could, glaring over her shoulder at the guy.

_Marcus. _

_I had a feeling this wasn't going to be the last time I would see him. _

_**Present **_

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed answers and I wanted them now.

I gently pushed Bay away, breaking our kiss. Bay just stared at me, a disappointed look on her face, but she patiently waited to see what I had to say.

"How do you know that Marcus kid?"

Bay continued to stare at me, this time with a confused look. I had signed to fast for her. I slowed down, spelling out Marcus's name in sign language.

Bay let out a sigh and moved to prop herself up on her elbows. "Trust me, Emmett. Nothing is going on between Marcus and I. He's in one of my classes. That's it."

"Then why was he asking you out?" I signed back, slowing down this time.

"Misunderstanding," she said.

I stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. She continued to explain that Marcus had asked her friend, Simone, if she was seeing anyone right now. Not knowing that Bay and I where going out, her friend had told him no.

"I told him I was already with someone. You saw me tell him that," she put her hands on my arm. "**You** are my boyfriend, Emmett. You have to trust me."

I moved my arm out of her grasp to sign. "I **do** trust you. It's **him** I don't trust."

"What?" Bay asked, dragging her index finger down the palm of her hand. "You think he's going to try something now that I turned him down?" She asked, trying to make a joke out of it, but I wasn't seeing the funny part.

"He's a rich, football player! They tend to have a harder time then others to except no for an answer." I was starting to get mad.

_Why couldn't Bay see what this could be leading towards? _

A smile started to appear on her face. "I thought all rich, football players were jerks?"

I couldn't help but smile back at her. "That too."

Getting serious again, Bay said, "Marcus is a lot of things; annoying, immature, stupid, rude, bossy, inconsiderate, naïve, and clearly unhelpful." Bay listed off several adjectives to explain the guy. All seemed right to me.

Bay had already told me about how her last period had gone.

_What a jerk!_

I put the palm of my hand against the side of her face, using my thumb to lightly rub circles on her cheek. She brought a hand up and placed it on top of mine, leaning into my hand, obviously liking the feeling.

"Just promise me that if he does try something, you tell me," I mouthed the words.

She nodded her head. "Promise."

She then closed her eyes as I leaned in to kiss her again.


	5. Chapter 4

Hey, thanks for all of the reviews so far. I love hearing your oppinions about my story. Keep them coming! Hope you like this next chapter. Please read and review. Tell me what you think! Thanks

Also, if you have any suggestions on how I can improve this story or my writing, please let me know.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

The wind was blowing my hair back behind me. The cold breeze blowing against my face. My arms were wrapped tightly around Emmett's waist. I close my eyes and rested my head against Emmett's shoulder as we zoomed through the town on his motorcycle, heading straight to my house.

I loved this feeling. Our bodies close together. Our minds on nothing but the road ahead.

If you ask anyone who owns a motorcycle why they liked to ride they would probably say something about how it makes you forget about all the problems in your daily life. And lets face it; I had a lot of stuff going on in my life right now. When you're riding you become lost in the moment and don't worry about anything else.

Riding behind Emmett on his bike felt almost like flying. There is no other feeling like it in the world. Well . . . maybe being in love.

I opened my eyes when I felt the bike make a hard right turn into my driveway and raised my head off of my boyfriend's shoulder as he came to a stop. I smiled to myself as I reached up to unclip the helmet and got off the bike, setting the helmet down on the seat. I turned around in time to see Emmett put his helmet down next to mine.

Over my boyfriend's shoulder I saw Simone leaning against the door that lead to my art studio. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes were staring at me with a look of suspicion on her face.

_How long had she been waiting? _

_Why was she here? _

_What did she want? _

_Only one way to find out._

Emmett, who hadn't noticed my visitor yet, offered me his hand. I took it and lead him to my art studio and my guest.

"Hey," I waved to Simone when I got closer. "What are you doing here?"

She didn't even look at me. She was to busy staring at Emmett. Emmett turned to look at me, a questioning expression on his face. I gave him a shrug before turning back to Simone.

"What's going on?" This time Simone turned towards my voice.

She nodded in Emmett's direction. "Is he really Deaf?"

I knew Emmett had read her lips. I could feel his eyes on me now, waiting for my response. I dropped his hand so that I could sign my answer.

"Yeah," I answered raising a eyebrow. When she didn't continue I asked her again, "What are you doing here?"

She pushed herself up off of the door she was leaning on, arms still crossed over her chest. "I wanted to know what you see this guy."

"This guy?" I signed.

She nodded in Emmett's direction again, but kept her eyes on me. "If he's Deaf why are you going out with him?"

I froze. My heart stopped beating in my chest.

_What was she saying?_

I knew that many of my friends wouldn't understand what I saw in Emmett, but I thought Simone, of all people, would at least give him a chance. Now she was trying to tell me that we shouldn't be together.

I turned to look at Emmett who was standing in a position were he could read Simone's lips and see my signs by just a turn of his head. I couldn't read the look on his face. It was something between shock, disbelieve, and . . . and something else.

I quickly turned back to Simone. "I like Emmett." I said and signed.

"But he's Deaf!" Simone practically shouted. "What kind of a future could you have with this guy?"

"Why do you care who I choice to date?"

She shrugged and made a bunch of hand gestures as she talked, "I just don't understand. You liked Marcus and wanted to go out with him. Now you are going on with Emmett here," she said pointing towards my boyfriend, "and suddenly Marcus is a jerk."

"I have a boyfriend now. I don't want to go out with Marcus anymore. I have no interest in Marcus anymore. Emmett is my boyfriend and I really like him."

"But he's different!" She snapped at me, her mood suddenly changed from a wanting-to-understand attitude to an angry and disbelieving voice. She pointed at Emmett with what I could only describe as a disgusted look on her face. "He's just some Deaf kid! What's so important about **him**?"

I was shocked. "Deaf kid?" I signed. My voice was barely above a whisper. "Just some Deaf kid?" I stared at her and slowly shook my head back and forth. "You don't know him . . . you don't know Emmett at all."

She didn't seem to have heard me. "I still can't believe you turned down Marcus," she exclaimed. "You two would have been perfect together."

"Simone . . ."

"You can still be with him. You can tell him tomorrow that you changed your mind."

"Simone . . ."

"You can go out with someone popular! Everyone would be jealous of you."

"Simone, stop . . ."

"Just a couple weeks ago you wanted to go out with him! You can go out with him now! Tomorrow . . ."

"**Stop!"** I shouted. That shut her up.

I took the last couple of steps that separated us and got up right in her face. I knew that Emmett wouldn't be able to read my lips from his direction now, but I didn't care.

I poked Simone's chest with my index finger as I spoke in a firm voice.** "You can't tell me who to date."**

I then grabbed Emmett's hand and started to pull him with me to my art studio, but what Simone said next made me pause.

"Fine, date who you want, but you should probably know that I told Marcus that your current _boyfriend _is Deaf. He wants to talk to you about that himself tomorrow."

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

Bay pulled me into her art studio and locked the door behind us. She hurried over to the window to stare out and watch Simone.

I was able to catch most of what they had said, but I wasn't able to see the last thing Bay had said to Simone.

I tried to get Bay's attention, but she wouldn't turn to look at me until I saw Simone get in her car and drive off.

Finally, when Bay was looking at me I signed, "What did you say to her?"

I was a little mad at the turn of events. Not only did Marcus keep coming up in conversations today, but also I was a little ticked off by what Bay's friend had said about me.

"I told her that she couldn't make me go out with Marcus, but . . . that's not what . . ." She said and signed.

I could tell she was upset about something. "What?"

"We knew . . . that not everyone would understand our relationship," She started slowly. "Marcus won't."

I saw tears start to form in her eyes. The last thing I wanted was to see Bay cry.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Simone told him." She closed her eyes trying to stop the tears from flowing down her face, but it was to late.

_Told him? Told him what? _

But I knew. I knew what Bay's supposed friend told the jerk, football player.

I pulled Bay into my arms, trying to comfort her.

There was no way I was going to let this guy hurt her, expectually if I was the reason.

"You might be right. I don't think Marcus is going to except us being together."

This was one time I wished I wasn't right.


	6. Chapter 5

Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. I know it's been awhile, but I have been working on this chapter all day. Literally! I had one class this morning and other than that I only took breaks to eat. Hope you like it. Please read and review!

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 5<span>**

_**Bay's Point of View**_

Whenever Emmett came over we would always hang out in my art studio. It was a place where Emmett and I could spend time together and not have to worry about my parents walking in on us and bothering us. Right now, I was very thankful for that.

Simone came over here to tell me her opinion on this situation. I had a feeling that her reaction to Emmett and I going out was just the storm to the hurricane that would be awaiting me tomorrow.

After Simone had left, Emmett had pulled me into his arms trying to comfort me, but the tears wouldn't stop pouring down my face.

Emmett was right. I didn't know what Marcus was going to do. I had turned him down to go out with Emmett, who was Deaf. To someone like Marcus who was used to getting everything and everyone that he wanted this would have been a slap to the face. Who knows how he was going to react when I saw him tomorrow.

I was so glad that Emmett was here. This realization would have been so much worse if he wasn't here to hold me.

I wasn't usually like this. Most of the time, I was tough and could stand up for myself. I was proud of the fact that I didn't need someone taking care of me all of the time, but right now I didn't know what to do. I was scared about what the future would hold for me.

I knew I shouldn't be worrying about this right now. Fretting about it now won't help the situation. It was hours away. I knew that if I gave myself entirely to worry about Marcus, I would go to pieces. I needed a distraction.

I had brought a small TV into my art studio a couple weeks ago for Emmett and I to watch movies on while he was over and I had set up one big beanbag chair on the floor for us to sit on.

Daphne and I had watched Deafenstein together in here a couple days ago. The movie was still in the DVD player.

Sitting on the beanbag, Emmett turned on the movie hoping that the diversion would calm me down; at least for a little while, until he could decide what we were going to do about tomorrow.

Watching the movie, Emmett had his arm wrapped around me, my head resting on his shoulder. Every now and then Emmett would bend down to plant kisses on my face and neck before turning back to the movie.

I knew that Emmett was going to do everything he could to make sure nothing happened to me. I trusted him with every fiber in my body.

With this in mind, I was able to laugh a little as the Deaf Frankenstein brawled through the mute town in Germany, but Marcus was never far from my mind.

_What was going to happen tomorrow? _

_What was Marcus going to say to me? _

_What was he going to do? _

As these questions and more ran through my head, I scooted closer to Emmett and wrapped my arm around him. I burrowed my face in his shirt as more tears started to spill down my face.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I hated to see Bay so worked up about this. She was usually so much tougher in these situations. I didn't think I would ever see Bay crumble like this. Now she was practically falling to pieces in my arms and there didn't seem to be anything I could do to stop it.

As the movie dragged on I would constantly be leaving trails of kisses on Bay's face and neck before turning back to the movie. I wanted her to know that I wasn't going to leave her to face Marcus alone, whatever he was going to do. I hoped she was getting the message.

Simone had told Bay that Marcus wanted to talk to her himself tomorrow. That could mean a lot of things, but the fact that he had asked her out on a date and then later found out that her current boyfriend was Deaf meant that this conversation tomorrow could get ugly really fast.

Eventually, Bay scooted closer to me and wrapped her arm across my stomach, burrowing her face in my shirt. Shortly after I felt Bay's tears as they landed on my shirt. I laid my head against hers and held her close, thinking it best to just let her cry it out.

Bay only had one class with this guy and that was at the end of the day. She told me that she hardly ever saw him other than in that class.

If I could leave Carlton a couple minutes early tomorrow I could be outside the building where Bay had her last class **before** her final bell rang. That way I could be there to watch this "conversation" between Bay and Marcus. If anything **did **happen I would be there.

The more I thought about it the more I thought that this was the best thing to do, at least for now. Have them talk and then maybe Marcus would move on.

Bay raised her head just then and turned towards the door to her studio. I turned my head around to see who was entering the room. Staring at us was Bay's brother, Toby.

Okay, he wasn't really staring at **us**, just Bay and the smeared tears on her face.

"Bay!" He cried out and as the big protective brother that he was he hurried over and knelt behind the beanbag chair, making Bay and I have to roll over onto are stomachs to converse with him easier.

"What's wrong?" He wasn't looking at his sister when he asked this. He was to busy sending a death glare at me. Why he thought I would do something to make Bay cry was beyond me, but I just shrugged it off. He would find out the really reason soon enough. I turned to Bay to see her response.

"This has nothing to do with Emmett," she answered, giving her brother a light shove to get him to stop sending me the glare. I could tell her voice was shaking a little as she talked.

"Then what's wrong?" Toby asked, turning back to Bay with a lighter expression on his face.

I couldn't read Bay's lips to see her response because she was staring down at the beanbag we were lying on and her hands were busy playing with the fabric. I was able to catch a few words to realize that she was filling her brother in on what had happened with Marcus after school and with Simone about two hours ago.

When Bay's lips had stopped moving I turned back to Toby to see his reaction.

_**Toby's Point of View**_

_Marcus_

Unlike Bay, I knew him pretty well. We have had a couple classes together over the past several years. He isn't really a **bad** guy, but he does have a bit of an anger problem.

It wasn't uncommon to hear about him getting into fistfights in the hallways at Buckner. Still, I really doubted that he would hit a girl. Nevertheless, I figured I should give Emmett a heads up about whom he was dealing with.

Turning back to Emmett I noticed that he was already looking at me, probably waiting to see what I thought about this situation.

I didn't want to bring up the incidents with Marcus's anger issues in front of Bay. It would only get her more worked up.

"Can I talk to you alone . . . outside?" I asked remembering to speak slowly so he would catch what I was saying.

I watched as he turned back to Bay and lightly put a hand on her shoulder, silently asking her if she would be okay for a couple minutes.

I virtually kicked myself for first thinking that Emmett was the cause for Bay's tears. Emmett had never done anything to hurt Bay and he wasn't going to start now.

Bay slowly nodded her head letting her boyfriend know that she would be fine.

I got up and turned my back to the two of them; a couple seconds later I heard Emmett following me out. I took a couple steps out into the sun before turning back to Emmett. He softly closed the door behind him before turning back to face me.

"You are going to be there when she talks to Marcus tomorrow, right?" I asked continuing to speak slowly.

He nodded. "You know this guy?" Emmett signed slowly, hoping that I would understand.

I thought I got the gest of it, but I still asked to make sure. "Do I know Marcus?"

He nodded again.

I put my hands in my pockets and nodded back at him. "Yeah, I know him. That's what I wanted to talk to you about." I paused for a second before continuing.

I told him everything I knew. About Marcus getting into several fights over the past couple months and what the reasons where behind each fight. Most of them were for stupid reasons. From what I could get, Marcus just liked to show off to his friends.

"As far as I know he has never hit a girl." Seeing the worried look grow on Emmett's face I slowly shook my head before adding. "I doubt he would, but I thought you should be prepared."


	7. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! I had a great idea for the next chapter and couldn't wait to type it up. Hope you all like it! Tell me what you think in the reviews! :D

Please read and review!

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

When Emmett came back in he seemed kind of shaken.

_What was going on?_

_What had Toby told him?_

"What's going on?" I signed to him when he was once again sitting next to me on the beanbag chair.

"He said he knows Marcus," he paused; he seemed to be considering how much to tell me. "Your brother wants to be there when you talk to him tomorrow, but he said his last class is on the other side of the campus. He wanted to know if I was planning to be there after school."

"What are we going to do about tomorrow? **Are** you going to be there?"

I watched Emmett nod his head before signing, "I'm going to leave school a little early tomorrow. I'll be waiting outside for you to come out."

To my surprise, I was able to smile back at him. Just knowing that he was going to be there made me feel better.

I also had the feeling that my brother was going to be keeping an eye on me all through the day tomorrow, making sure I didn't have any confrontations with Marcus before the end of the day.

That would be really embarrassing. Having my older brother watching over me all day.

I wonder what my friends would say about that.

Emmett was staring at the TV that was now back at the Main Menu page for the movie we had been watching. He seemed to be lost in thought. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but I didn't want to interrupt him.

Just then, his phone vibrated in his pocket. I watched as he took his phone out and check the caller ID before answering the message. He stared at it for a while, as if trying to understand the meaning of the words he was reading. Then he exited out of the message and put the phone back in his pocket before turning to me.

"I have to go," he signed, but he didn't move to get up.

"Who was that?" I signed back. By the look on his face I wasn't sure if I wanted to know.

He didn't answer my question. Instead he asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine," I nodded.

My tears where gone now and surprisingly I was feeling a little better about this whole situation, but Emmett didn't seem to believe me.

"You need me . . . text me."

I nodded again.

He bent down to kiss me one more time before standing up and heading out the door.

I got up and headed to the window to see him off.

From the window I had a perfect view of Emmett as he got on his motorcycle and slipped his helmet over his head before speeding off down the road.

As he disappeared from my view I couldn't help but wonder again about the text message.

_ What had it said?_

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I turned my motorcycle around the comer leaving Bay's neighborhood, and pulled over to the side of the road.

I took my helmet off and set it on my lap. I then grabbed my cell phone back out of my pocket, opened the text message I had just received, and reread the typed words.

_Stay away from Bay and no one gets hurt_

There was no name listed meaning that whoever had sent me this text, their number was not programed into my phone. Still, there were only a handful of people that it could have been; Marcus and Simone being my top choices. Still, I wasn't sure what to make of it.

_Why did they want me to stay away from Bay?_

_How did this person get my number? _

Simone seemed to have some very strong opinions about Deaf and hearing relationships. She obviously didn't want Bay anywhere near me. She would much rather have Bay in the hands of that Marcus kid.

_What kind of a friend was that? _

_Couldn't she just let Bay and I be happy? _

As for getting my cell phone number she could have gotten a hold of Bay's phone at some point and gotten the number that way or have gotten it from anybody else.

_But who would give Simone my cell phone number? _

Then there was Marcus. The reason he would want me to stay away from Bay was clear. **He wanted Bay for himself.** Now that I had the information that Toby gladly shared with me the "no one gets hurt" part of the text fits perfectly for it to have been from him.

_But how could he have gotten my number? _

Toby knew him, but I doubted he would willingly have giving Marcus the number.

Wilke? Possibly. He wasn't the smartest guy around and if Marcus had asked him for my number he may have obliged.

Still puzzling over the means of the text, I exited out of the message to check the time.

It was almost 7:30.

I had to get home.

I put my phone back in my pocket and slipped the helmet back on my head before starting up my motorcycle.

_**Anonymous Point of View**_

Emmett and Bay

I have been following them since they left Buckner Hall together.

Riding around on that boys motorcycle, Bay had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist the whole time.

It disgusted me.

What Bay saw in that guy I could not figure out.

They first stopped at the park just a couple miles from the school.

The boy had brought a blanket and had spread it out on the ground for the two of them to lay on under the shade of one of the trees.

They started out by taking some textbooks out of their bags and getting some work done, but that hadn't lasted long.

They were soon making out.

After the park, the two of them had headed back towards Bay's house.

I watched the boy as he turned his motorcycle up into the Kennish's driveway.

I parked by the curb on the other side of the street.

Bay grabbed the boy's hand and headed towards her garage, closing the door behind them.

Couple hours went by and neither of them came out.

I had started to drift off when I noticed another boy heading towards Bay's garage.

Toby

Her brother

Moments later both boys walked out.

They seemed to have a serious conversation about something and then the boy went back into the garage.

By now, I was getting tired of just sitting around. Digging into my jacket packet I pulled out my disposable cell phone. Tracking down the boys cell phone number had been harder then I had originally thought, but it was worth it.

I sent the boy a quick text before driving to the end of the street. I made a U turn and headed back out of the neighborhood.

With all the technology we have now a days it is so easy to get information on anybody. Computers and the internet; it made discovering people to easy.

I preferred a more personal approach to learning about someone. You could learn so much by just watching somebody. I had learned a lot about these two by just following them around for a couple hours.

Emmett Bledsoe

Emmett rode a motorcycle

Emmett was a photographer

Emmett was going out with Bay

Emmett was Deaf

Bay Kennish

Bay came from a rich background

Bay was an artist

Bay spent a lot of time in her garage

Bay was going out with Emmett

Bay was hearing

Bay

She could do so much better . . .

Now, parked right around the corner from Bay's neighborhood I had a clear view of the boy when he came around.

Finally! Now to see where this boy lived.


	8. Chapter 7

Hey everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting again. Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Just to let you all know, I have exams coming up in a couple weeks so it may be a while before I will be able to post again. I will update as soon as I can. Please read and review.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 7<span>**

_**Bay's Point of View**_

From the window I had a perfect view of Emmett as he got on his motorcycle and slipped his helmet over his head before speeding off down the road.

As he disappeared from my view I couldn't help but wonder again about the text message.

It was probably nothing. Otherwise he would have told me about it.

Deciding to worry about it later I looked around my art studio, which now seemed really deserted and lonely without Emmett here. Standing here by myself I felt like someone was watching me.

It gave me the creeps.

I switched off the lights and hurried into the house, almost running into Toby in the process.

"Hey, where's the fire?" He asked with a smirk on his face.

"Ha ha," I snapped back and pushed my way around him into the house and away from the eyes that I still felt where watching me.

"Where's Emmett?" he asked closing the door behind me.

"He went home," I answered, sitting down at the island and picking up one of the freshly baked cookies off the plate in front of me.

"Really?"

"What?" I asked around the cookie that was in my mouth.

"Nothing."

I stared at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket, but before I could turn my attention to it, Toby continued.

"It's just, you seemed pretty upset about the whole Marcus thing. I thought he was going to be here for a while."

"Well, I'm fine, okay. You can stop worrying." I got up from the chair; half a cookie in hand, and turned to go to my room.

"Bay, wait," he moved around the island and got a hold of my wrist before I could get out of the kitchen.

"What?" I asked pulling my arm out of his grasp.

"About Marcus . . ."

"I know okay. He's a bad guy and if he tries something tomorrow before Emmett gets there you are going to be close by. Emmett told me." I interrupted him, hoping my facial expression didn't show how worried I was.

He had a sad look on his face. For a secant, I thought he was going to say something else, but he just nodded his head and turned away.

I put the rest of the cookie in my mouth as I headed out of the kitchen. I then pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to check the text I had received.

Checking the ID I noticed there was no name listed.

I entered my room and closed the door. Leaning with my back against the door, I opened the text.

_Stay away from Emmett and no one gets hurt_

I stared at the text, trying to figure out who would have sent something like this. The only people I could think of where Marcus and Simone.

I slowly moved towards my bed and laid down on my stomach as I tried to figure out what was going on.

I had Simone's number programmed into my phone. If the text had been from her then it would have said so on the caller ID. That only left Marcus, but how would he have . . . Simone.

Simone most of giving him my number. I mean . . . it made since. Both of them seemed to be on the same page. They both didn't want Emmett and I going out and they both wanted me to go out with Marcus.

Well, they could threaten me all they wanted, but I wasn't going to stay away from Emmett. He was boyfriend. Still, I should tell him about the text message.

I quickly typed a message to Emmett and pressed send.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

Approaching my house, I pulled my motorcycle into the driveway and parked it right outside the garage door. I left my helmet on the seat.

_Stay away from Bay and no one gets hurt_

Was Marcus the one that had sent the text? It was certainly possible, but why make such a fuss over Bay? If he really was as popular as Bay had made him sound then he could pretty much have any girl he wanted at Buckner. Though that was probably the point.

He wanted the chase.

He wanted the excitement.

He wanted to win the girl.

He wanted me; and apparently Bay, to suffer.

Entering the house, I dropped my backpack by the stairs and headed straight to the kitchen expecting to find my mom there, preparing dinner.

No mom.

Instead, I found a note on the counter. It said . . .

Hey Emmett. I will be working late tonight. You're on your own for dinner. See you tomorrow.

- Mom

Crumbling up the note I lined up a shot to shoot it basketball-style into the trashcan.

_He shots . . . __**score**__!_

To celebrate, I took a Popsicle out of the freezer to eat before dinner and switched on the TV that was set up in the kitchen. As I worked on my Popsicle I watched That '70s Show.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Taking it out, I checked the caller ID. I couldn't help but sigh in relief. It was no mystery texter this time. It was from Bay. My relief didn't last long though.

_I just received a weird text message_

I quickly typed back.

_From who?_

It didn't take long to get a reply.

_Don't know. No name listed._

I tapped my fingertips against the table trying to think this through. I sent Bay another text.

_What was the message? _

While I waited for an answer. I stared at the words as the rolled across the TV. Suddenly, I wasn't interest in the show.

My phone buzzed.

_It said, __Stay away from Emmett and no one gets hurt_

Well, one thing was obvious. Whoever had texted me, the same person had texted Bay.

I sent my girlfriend one more text before putting my phone away.

_Don't worry about it right now. We'll figure it out tomorrow._

I did my best to forget about the text messages for now and turned back to the TV. When I finished my Popsicle, I put some frozen chicken into the microwave and switched the channel over to The Big Bang Theory.

When I finished eating I switched off the TV and decided to head upstairs. I had been able to go by the store today during my lunch break at school to get the pictures of Bay and I developed. I wanted to take down some of my Daphne photos and replace them with Bay's up on my wall.

I headed over to the stairs and reached into my backpack to retrieve the photos before proceeding to my room.

I closed the door behind me and tossed the envelope with the photos in it on to my desk, before turning to my closet to salvage an old shoebox. I set the box on my nightstand by my bed.

I decided to start with taking down the oldest pictures I had of Daphne first, placing each photo into the box. After a while, I put the lid back on the box and set it on a shelf in the back of my closet.

Grabbing the envelope off my desk, I sat down on my bed and spread the photos out so I could see them all.

Bay. Artistic, beautiful, funny, smart, sarcastic Bay. She was perfect. The pictures where filled with Bay. Smiling, laughing, joking around. It was hard trying to decide which ones to hang up. Finally, I managed to select three of Bay and I together and three of just her. The rest I stacked together and put on top of my nightstand.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a light blinking on the other side of my room. Without turning around I knew it was coming from the box system we had set up in all the rooms in the house.

The system was set up to blink a light in two different colors and in different rhythms. The light that I saw most of the time consisted of three slow flashes in yellow that meant that someone was at the door.

I glanced at the clock on my nightstand. It was 9:20. Who would be at the door? My mom had a key. She wouldn't need to ring the bell. Still puzzling it over, I turned around to look at the box system.

It wasn't blinking yellow.

Now, facing the box, I saw five fast flashes of red before a pause and then it started again.

The Emergency Alarm; someone had broken into the house.


	9. Chapter 8

Hey everyone! I finished all of my final exams on Wednesday and now have a six week long break before I start my next semester at college. I am hoping to get several more chapters out before heading back, so make sure to keep checking back and keep the reviews coming. Thanks for all the reviews so far. I love hearing your thoughts about my writing. Please keep them coming. I'm glad you like my story. :D

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 8<span>**

_**Toby's Point of View**_

I was in my band room practicing when I caught sight of Emmett's motorcycle coming up the driveway and Simone waiting outside my sister's art studio.

I didn't think much of it right away. Simone and Bay had been friends for a while. Having Simone wait for my sister to come home wasn't that uncommon.

I had gone back to what I was doing and when I had looked up again a couple minutes later they seemed to be having some kind of a fight. Emmett kept looking back and forth between the girls, obviously trying to catch everything that was being said.

_What where they talking about?_

I watched as Bay pulled Emmett into her art studio and closed the door behind them. Simone made her way to a car that was parked across the street and got in the passenger seat . . . the car didn't move.

_What where they waiting for?_

A couple hours later, I was inside the house staring out the window watching the car that was **still** parked on the other side of the street.

Just then Emmett passed by my line of sight, got on his motorcycle, and drove away. The mysterious car followed him.

_What was going on? Was someone stocking Emmett? Did Bay know about this? _

I decided to go and talk to Bay about it. Opening the door, Bay almost ran into me.

"Hey, where's the fire?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

"Ha ha," she pushed her way around me and headed farther into the house.

"Where's Emmett?" I asked, wondering if she noticed that car following him out of the neighborhood.

"He went home," she answered, shrugging it off.

"Really?" I asked. I wanted to keep the conversation going. I wanted to know if she was really okay with the whole Marcus thing right now.

"What?" She asked around the cookie that was in her mouth.

"Nothing."

She just stared at me.

"It's just, you seemed pretty upset about the whole Marcus thing. I thought he was going to be here for a while." I said, trying to lighten the mood a little by trying to turn this into a joke.

"Well, I'm fine, okay. You can stop worrying." She got up from the chair and turned to go to her room.

She appeared to still be worried about Marcus still. "Bay, wait," I moved around the island and got a hold of her wrist before she could get out of the kitchen. I needed to make sure she was okay.

"What?" She asked, pulling her arm out of my grasp.

"About Marcus . . ."

"I know okay. He's a bad guy and if he tries something tomorrow before Emmett gets there you are going to be close by. Emmett told me." She interrupted me.

I was positive that whoever was in that car just now was waiting for Emmett to leave. They where following him.

I thought about rather I should tell Bay about my worries, but she already had tomorrow to look forward too. Why add something else to her mound of stuff to think about tonight when I didn't know for sure what was going on.

I watched her leave the kitchen and head up the stairs.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

My phone vibrated when Emmett sent back his last text.

_Don't worry about it right now. We'll figure it out tomorrow._

_Don't worry? How was I not suppose to worry?_

I remembered hearing about fights that Marcus had gotten into at school. He had some serious anger issues that I didn't want to get involved in . . . and I was dragging Emmett into this.

I raised my head off of my pillow just high enough so I could see the time on my alarm clock. It was only 8:20. I decided to head down stairs. Maybe some TV would be good to clear my head of everything that was going on right now.

Heading into the living room I saw Daphne siting on the couch Indian style, staring at the words rolling across the screen.

My mom had just recently set the TV up so that we could turn on and off the subtitles for Daphne and Emmett when they where over.

Taking a couple steps into the room I turned my head to see what she was watching; Ghost Whisperer. One of my favorite shows. I quickly walked past the TV to take a seat on the coach next to her.

I couldn't focus on the TV. I couldn't get my mind off of Marcus.

Finally, when the episode ended, I stood to head upstairs feeling suddenly very tired. I was half way out of the room when I heard Daphne call me back.

"You okay?"

I was hopping she wouldn't notice my quite attitude tonight. Apparently, luck wasn't on my side today.

I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to tell her everything that had happened today involving Marcus, but I was already dragging Emmett and Toby into this. I didn't want her to get involved with this too.

I didn't think Emmett would be happy either if I got her involved. Emmett and Daphne **were** still good friends and I knew he wouldn't want her to get hurt any more than he wanted me too. The less she knew, the better.

"I'm fine. Just tired. I'm going upstairs," I turned to leave again. Half way out I stopped and turned back to Daphne. "Do you have that class at Buckner tomorrow?" I asked, making sure to sign what I could.

I needed to know if she was going to be around the school tomorrow. I was hoping she wouldn't be around Marcus. He wouldn't be in the best spirits tomorrow.

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you know Marcus?" I asked, hopping she hadn't heard about him, but doubted that a guy as popular as Marcus wouldn't have at least have been mentioned in her class at some point.

But she slowly shook her head. "No, why?"

"Nothing," I answered, waving it off. "Forget I said anything."

I headed upstairs and to my bathroom to get ready for bed.

I knew it was going to be a rough night, but I needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. I needed all the sleep I could get.

Maybe I should just call the police. I mean . . . I did get this text that said, "_Stay away from Emmett and no one gets hurt_". Whoever sent it was obviously trying to scare me; if nothing else, but was that enough in order to take this to the cops?

For half the night I tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable, but every time I was almost asleep Marcus's face appeared behind my closed eyelids.

Finally, I turned onto my back and stared up at the ceiling and tried not to think about anything except for Emmett and what he was doing right now.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

Turning around to face the box system in the corner of my room, I saw the five fast flashes of red.

The Emergency Alarm was going off.

_Someone was in the house._

That was the last rational thought I had before my mind went blank.

That was when everything seemed to slow down. Every move I made seemed to be happening in slow motion.

I set the photos of Bay that I wanted to hang up next to the other stack I had already placed on my nightstand and headed for my closed bedroom door. I slowly opened it and peered out.

Nothing. The intruder was still downstairs.

I made my way to the stairs and glanced over the railing.

My mind wasn't working right. I knew I wasn't thinking logically. I shouldn't be giving the intruder a chance to see where I was, but all I could think about was rather it was Marcus.

_Was Marcus in my house? _

_Did Marcus follow me here? _

_What was he trying to accomplish by showing up here like this? _

Just then, the trespasser stepped around a corner and into my line a vision. He **did** look to be about the same age as Marcus, but it wasn't him.

The first then I noticed was his hair. The style was similar to Marcus's, but this man's hair color is different. Marcus had black hair. This man's was blonde.

His body type was also different. Marcus was muscular and athletic looking. This guy was muscular, but was more broad chested.

To my surprise, he had what looked like a gun clipped to his pants.

_Who was this guy?_

Luckily, he didn't stick around long. He headed straight to the entry and left, leaving the door wide open.

I slowly counted to ten before heading down the stairs.

I went to the control panel by the front door and turned off the alarm system before looking out the open door.

All I saw was a dark blue van pull away and drive off.


	10. Chapter 9

Hey, guys! Hope everyone is having a great winter break! I know I am. Can't wait for Christmas and New Years. Then, Switched at Birth is coming back on January 3rd! Anyways, here is the next chapter. Hope you like it! Please read and review. :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

Beep . . . beep . . . beep . . .

I drowsily reached over and turned off my alarm clock before rolling back under the covers.

I don't know what time I had finally fallen asleep last night, but it felt like I had only gotten a couple minutes of rest. All I wanted was to stay right here in bed. I could pretend to be sick and stay home today.

The last thing I wanted right now was to get out of bed.

_**What was I doing? **_I had never let anyone push me around before. I had never let anybody make me feel vulnerable like this before. I had never let anyone scare me like this before and I didn't want it to start now.

Marcus wants to **talk** to me about my relationship with Emmett. All that is going to happen is that he will try to convince me to break up with him. All he is going to do is try to convince me that Emmett and I going out together was a mistake. If his anger started to get out of control when I tell him that I am not going to end my relationship with my Deaf boyfriend, Emmett was going to be there. I am not going to break up with Emmett just because someone else wants me too.

_**What was I worried about?**_

I sat up and pushed the covers off me. I got myself shakily to my feet, grabbed the clothes I had laid out the night before and headed slowly to the bathroom to get a quick shower.

Hair still wet, but in better spirits for the day ahead, I walked into the kitchen to find my mom laying out plates of pancakes on the table. Toby was already at the table, stuffing pancakes into his mouth.

"Good morning." My mom said, hardly glancing at me as I made my way to take a seat by the new plate that she had just set out on the table. She was to busy hurrying around the kitchen trying to get everything ready for her day.

"Late for something?" I asked. A bite of pancake was halfway to my mouth.

"I will be if I don't leave . . ." she quickly glanced down at her watch. "Five minutes ago!" She swiftly stuffed her arms full with a stack of binders and folders, and started for the door. "Don't be late for school!" She shouted over her shoulder and with that she was gone.

I turned to Toby, who was still working on his pancakes.

"Where is she heading?" I asked pointing my fork in the direction of the door that had just slammed shut.

He held up a finger, telling me to wait for him to swallow before answering. At least his manners were improving. "She's working on another fundraiser for the school."

I nodded, turning back to my breakfast. Before I could take another bite, my phone vibrated in my pocket. With my free hand, I slipped my phone out to see that I had a message from Emmett.

_Want a ride to school today?_

I stared at the text as I brought another bite of pancakes to my mouth.

Emmett **always** drove Daphne to school with him in the mornings. _Was he still worried about me?_

Quickly thinking back to how I had reacted the other night I thought it was clearly possible that he would still be worried. I could feel my cheeks getting red from the memory. I must have seemed pretty clingy yesterday. I had **never** acted like that before. I couldn't believe I had been so insecure about the situation. It really wasn't **that** big a deal . . . not yet anyways.

I didn't want Emmett to feel like he had to take care of me; like he has to be with me all of the time. Still it would be nice to see Emmett before having to go through another long day at Buckner Hall.

I sent him a quick message back telling him to text me when he was here.

Just then, Daphne walked in the door. She didn't look happy. In one hand she held her cell phone, which she waved in the air for us to see.

"Emmett just texted me. He said he was going to drive **you **to school today!" She snapped at me and used her free hand to point at me. Daphne strolled over to us and slammed her phone against the table. "I know I said I was okay with you two dating, but Emmett is still supposed to drive me in the mornings! I don't care what you two do after school, but in the mornings I need a ride!"

"Can't your mom take you this once?" I nearly yelled back.

"She already left for work."

"I'm sure my dad can take you," Toby said standing up to put his dishes in the sink. He seemed to be the only calm one at the moment. Well, unlike Daphne he knew what was going on today after school. He probably had quickly figured out why Emmett would be driving me today. "He's in his Study."

To my surprise, without another word, Daphne stormed off in search of our dad. I would have thought she would have tried to drag out the argument a little more. I shrugged it off for now.

"Is Emmett okay?" I looked up to see Toby leaning back against the counter, his arms folded across his chest.

"What do you mean?" I asked, staring at him. _Did he know something I didn't?_

He stared back at me, seemed too decided if he should tell me or not.

I stood up to put my dishes in the sink and leaned against the island with my arms folded across my chest. In this position, we were just a couple feet from each other.

"What?"

He sighed before saying, "I think someone is stalking Emmett."

I stared back at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, when Simone came over to talk to you. She got into the passenger seat of a van that was parked on the other side of the street. It didn't leave until your boyfriend did. I think they were waiting for him."

"Emmett has a stalker?" I asked, stunned. Great, one more thing we had to worry about. "Wait, you said Simone got in the car? Why would she . . ." I let the question drag off.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out to find another message from my boyfriend.

_I'm here_

"He's here," I said turning back to Toby and putting my phone back in my pocket.

"Just ask him about it. See if he's noticed anything strange going on."

"Yeah, thanks," I answered as I headed to the door where I had set my backpack the night before and headed out.

I gave Emmett a little smile and wave, as I got closer to him. He smiled back and handed me the spare helmet.

I thought about asking him about the mysterious van Toby had mentioned seeing yesterday, but decided to wait until we got to school.

I didn't feel like talking right now.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I hadn't gotten much sleep last night. Not only was Marcus trying to break up Bay and I, but also we were both getting these text messages from some mystery sender. Not only that, but someone had broken into my house.

The weird part was that he didn't seem to have taken anything. He wasn't even inside the house that long; two minutes tops. He had also appeared to be around Marcus's age, though I knew it wasn't him.

_Does the guy that broke into my house go to Bay's school? Did this have anything to do with Marcus? Did anything weird happen at Bay's house last night?_

I wanted to see Bay. I needed to know that she was still okay.

I drowsily brought myself up to a sitting position on my bed and reached for my cell phone. It was lying right next to my framed photo of Bay and I on my nightstand.

First, I texted Bay to see if she wanted a ride to school. Then, I sent Daphne text asking if she could get a ride if I took Bay in today.

When I heard back from Bay, I got up and hurried to get ready for the day.

When I turned into Bay's driveway everything looked fine. No forced break-ins. That was a good sign.

I sent Bay a text letting her know that I was here to pick her up. When she came outside she seemed . . . lost in thought. Like her mind was somewhere else. _What was bothering her now?_

I still hadn't decided rather I was going to tell her about the brake-in I had last night. She already had this Marcus kid to deal with. I didn't want her to be worried about this too. From what I could tell so far the two events might not even be related. For now, I was going to keep it to myself.

In the mean time, I'll find out what was bothering Bay.

I turned my motorcycle into the Buckner Hall campus parking lot and came to a stop right in front of the building. We both took off our helmets and we walked over to sit on a hill that was on the side of the building.

This seemed to be one of the places where the Buckner Hall students hang out in between classes. Classes weren't supposed to start for another fifteen minutes. There were servarl groups of teenagers seating together with their friends; joking around and some seemed to be catching up on homework.

I didn't see Marcus anywhere.

I followed Bay who sat down in the shade of a lonely tree. Almost as soon as I sat down beside her she began to talk.

"Did anything happen to you last night after you left my house?" Bay signed.

I stared at her for secant.

_Did she know about the break-in? No . . . she couldn't know._

But she did ask. I wasn't going to lie to her.

"Some teenage kid broke into my house last night. Didn't take anything and didn't stay long. Why you ask?" I signed slowly so she would understand what I was saying.

"Toby thinks someone was following you last night."

"What?" _Following me? Why would someone follow me to my house?_

Bay went on to tell me everything that her brother had reported seeing the night before. If Simone had gotten into the car, maybe this did have something to do with the Marcus situation.

"Simone wasn't in my house last night." I signed to Bay. "It wasn't Marcus either."

"Did you see him? What did he look like?"

I thought back to the night before, when I had looked over the railing. "Blonde hair, muscular, he was bigger than Marcus."

I saw Bay's eyes get big before she turned away from me.

_Did she know this guy? Did she know who broke into my house?_

I tapped Bay's arm to get her attention.

"What's wrong?" I signed.

"That's Dean," she signed slowly. "Simone's boyfriend."


	11. Chapter 10

****Hey, everyone! Glad you like my story. Keep reading and let me know what you think.

I know it's been awhile since my last update. I'm sorry about the wait. Hope this longer chapter makes up for it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

After Emmett left to head to his school, I pulled out my History textbook.

I knew that our teacher would be going over the chapter that she had asked us to read yesterday. Today we would be taking notes, but seeing as it was the only class I had with Marcus I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate. Taking out my notebook and a pen, I started to read back through the chapter.

When I heard the first bell ring; letting us know that we had 5 minutes to get to class, I quickly finished jotting down some information and started to pack up my stuff.

I grabbed my backpack off the ground and moved to stand up. In the process I almost bumped into Simone.

_Great! One of the many people I didn't want to see right now._

"What do you want?" I asked as I slipped my backpack over one shoulder.

"Did you dump the deafie yet?"

"No," I snapped back at her and hurried around her. "And I'm not going too."

"Why not?" I could hear her hurrying to catch up to me. _Why couldn't she just leave me alone?_

"Because I **like** him," I said, sending her a death glare. "You might as well get use to it."

"I really don't understand why you like him. He's Deaf, he doesn't talk, and he probably uses you to help him interpret what everyone around him is saying." She counts each one off with a finger. "I mean . . . what do you guys even **do** together."

By then, we had reached the front doors of the building that would lead me to my first class. I stop at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face her.

"First, I **don't care** if he's Deaf. Second, he **does** talk to me. Maybe not with his voice, but . . ."

"You mean Sign Language? That's not the same!"

I ignored the comment and continued, "And as for interpreting for him. He doesn't want my help with that. He can read lips. He doesn't **need** me to interpret for him and he **hates** it when I try too."

"But you don't even have to **try** with Marcus. You don't have to learn a new language for him. You don't have . . ."

I couldn't take it anymore. "Why was your boyfriend in Emmett's house last night?" I said interrupting her.

I didn't want her complaining about my boyfriend. I wanted answers.

The look on Simone's face instantly changed from anger to shock, but before I could get an answer out of her the late bell rang. She gave me one last look before hurrying off to her class.

For once I was really happy about all the work the teachers gave us to do during class. It gave me something else to focus on today, instead of what was going on with Marcus, Simone, and Dean.

My first two classes seemed to fly by. I was on my way to French when Toby came up behind me.

"Hey, you okay so far?"

"I'm fine. In fact, I almost forgot about what was happening later. Thanks for bring it up again." I said sarcastically.

"Sorry," he didn't sound like he really meant it. "Have you seen any of them around?" He scan the area himself real quick to see if Marcus, Simone, or her boyfriend were close by. Not seeing them he turned back to wait for my answer.

"Just Simone this morning. She tried again to get me to break up with Emmett."

"Why?"

"She wants me to be with _cute_, _popular_, _football star_ Marcus. She thinks I should just give in and go out with him."

"And leave Emmett behind?"

"She doesn't like that he's Deaf." I sighed in frustration.

"So. Who cares what she thinks?"

I smiled. Toby always knew what to say whenever something was bothering me. "Yeah, I know. I just wish she would stop bringing it up."

"Talk to Marcus. Work it out. Emmett will be there. Everything will be fine." He sounded bored, like I shouldn't be worrying about such things and wondering why I was making a big deal out of this.

That was the kind of person Toby was. He believed that if you faced the problem everything would work out.

I let a little laugh escape my lips. "Yeah, I guess."

Toby spotted some of his friends and waved to them. "I'll see you tonight," he said to me, before running after his friend.

I watched him as he caught up to his buddies, before turning again to head towards my next class.

Suddenly, I shiver ran up my spine and I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. Turning my head around to look behind me I saw Marcus standing on a little hill outside one of the buildings. When he knew that I had saw him he turned his gaze to the parking lot.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean and Simone walking over to his car. I watched as they both climbed in and drove off.

When I turned back to look at Marcus . . . he was gone. I quickly scanned the area trying to find him, but he was nowhere in sight.

I turned back to were the car had vanished from view before quickly turning back to head to class.

_Where were they going in middle of the school day?_

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

A couple minutes after Bay had told me about Dean I was on my bike and heading towards Carlton.

_Why was Simone's boyfriend in my house last night? What was he looking for? _

I tried to stop the questions from swarming around in my mind as I pulled into the Carlton parking lot.

It would be best not to worry about Marcus, Simone, and Dean until later. Right now, I had class.

I stopped by my locker to grab my books for my first couple of classes. As I was putting my Biology textbook into my backpack, a shadow fell across me. Turning around to see who was there, I came face to face with an irritated Daphne.

I stood up, flung my backpack over one shoulder, and used my free hand to make the Y sign and taped it against my chin. "What's wrong?"

She gave me an annoyed look before signing, "You where suppose to pick me up for school today. You **always** pick me up for school."

I didn't want to deal with this right now. I had enough to deal with already without Daphne fussing over something as stupid as ride to school.

I walked around her and headed towards my first class.

But of course, Daphne wasn't going let me escape that easily. She hurried to catch up with me.

"Why did you take Bay in today?"

Part of me wanted to tell her everything, but then I remembered the gun that Dean had had with him when he was in my house. I didn't want Daphne caught up in this and I wanted to get Bay out of this as soon as I could.

"For starts she is my girlfriend," I signed in response to her question.

"And I'm still your friend!" She angrily signed back.

I came to a stop outside the door that lead to my first period classroom and turned back to face Daphne. "You have had boyfriends before. You spent a lot of time with them . . ." I tried to get her off my back, but before I could finish she jumped back in.

"Ever since you two started going out you are spending **all** of your time with her. During school is the only time I get to see you know without Bay hanging around."

I sighed, trying to think of something to say to get her to leave me alone. "You have other friends. When I am with Bay why don't you spend more time with them?"

In an instant, her facial expression changed from anger to shock. "Are you saying you don't want to be friends anymore?"

"No, I'm trying to tell you that you need to make other friends besides me. Find someone else to hang out with while I'm spending time with Bay."

"But . . . we have known each other a lot longer than you and Bay have. I don't understand why you have to spend all your time outside of school with her. Why can't we still hang out like we used too," she signed, now seeming almost desperate.

_Was she jealous . . ? _

I was about to try and explain to her; yet again, that Bay was my new girlfriend and that I should be able to spend time with her as well as with my friends. But before I could tell her this, the bell rang . . . or the light flashed, signaling the start of school.

At that same moment Mrs. Ryan; my science teacher, appeared at the open door waiting for me to enter.

Turning back to Daphne, I quickly signed to her that we would finish this conversation later and hurried to my seat.

All day I had trouble concentrating. My mind kept wondering off to Bay.

_What was she doing right now? Had Marcus tried to talk to her before the end of the day? What was going to happen this evening after school? _

I couldn't wait for the end of the day. I needed to see Bay.

Twice my teachers had to pull me back from my thoughts to what was going on in class. Granted, it was a long day.

Finally, the light went off to signal are lunch break.

I knew I couldn't go the rest of the day fretting about all this. My stomach was in knots worrying about Bay. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything while I was dealing with all this stress, but I did need to talk to Daphne. I really didn't want to bring Daphne into this mess, but I really needed to tell someone about what was going on.

Before Bay came along, Daphne had been the one person I could always trust. Besides, maybe seeing my old friend would help me clear my mind, at least for a little while.

With this in mind, I slowly headed outside to wait for her at our usually table.

I didn't have to wait long.

A couple minutes later, Daphne appeared with her lunch in a brown paper bag. She sat down across from me, hardly glancing in my direction.

_Was she still mad about this morning? _

I watched as she opened her lunch and pulled out a sandwich. She carefully removed the sandwich out of the plastic baggie it was in and took a bite out of the corner. As she chewed, she raised her head to look me in the eyes.

Seeing her swollen red eyes for the first time, I knew she had been crying.

"What's wrong?" I signed.

She just stared at me for what seemed like hours. Finally, she shook her head. She drew her free hand across her forehead, then made the shape of an O, and flicked her fingers forward. "Forget it. It's nothing."

"You wouldn't be crying if nothing was wrong." I wanted her talk to me. We were still friends. If something was bothering her, I wanted to help.

"It's not important," she signed back, setting her sandwich down on top of the baggie she had taken it out of. Before I could ask her again she continued, "Can you tell me now why you drove Bay to school today?"

I sighed, "I don't see why it's such a big deal. She is my girlfriend . . ."

"You told me that you two dating wasn't going to get in the way of our friendship and now you are driving **her** to school. You **always** pick me up."

Maybe she was jealous . . . no. Daphne didn't like me like that. She was just upset about everything that has been changing in her life lately. Bay and I going out was just something else that Daphne would have to get use too.

"Bay is . . ." I paused, trying to think of the best way to explain the situation without giving too much away. The less she knew the better. "Bay is having problems with a boy at her school."

She tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean 'problems'?" The look on her face told me she was trying to figure out what the real problem was.

"Another boy has asked her out and . . ."

"What? You don't trust your girlfriend?"

"That's not it!" I tried to explain, but she interrupted me again.

"How can you have a descent relationship without trust?"

"There is more to then . . ."

"You always told me Deaf and hearing relationships would never work out. You probably should have followed your own advice."

"Daphne!"

She didn't wait for me to explain. She stuffed her half eaten sandwich back into her paper bag and stood up to leave.

I stood up too and hurried after her.

Daphne had just reached the trashcan on the other side of the outdoor sitting area by the time I caught up with her.

I touched her arm, trying to get her to look at me, but she just shrugged me off and turned to head inside.

I grabbed her shoulder and turned her half way around. "You don't know the full story." I signed, desperately wanting her to let me talk to her about this. I needed someone to talk too.

Daphne stared at me for a couple secants before signing, "I know more then you think I do." With that said, she turned and walked away from me.

All I could do was stare after her.

It wasn't what she had signed that had made me stop. It was the look in her eyes when she said it.

They were still red from crying, but she hadn't appeared to be sad anymore. Instead, she had seemed to be hurt and resentful, but it was more then that.

She was scared.


	12. Chapter 11

Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews.

Before you read this next chapter let me explain something first. This chapter is going to go over the same events that happened in the last chapter, but will be told from two different characters perspectives. I hope you like it. Let me know what you think in the reviews! Thanks for reading. :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

_**Simone's Point of View**_

"I really don't understand why you like him. He's Deaf, he doesn't talk, and he probably uses you to interpret for him." Counting off each reason that Bay and Emmett shouldn't be together with a finger. _Why couldn't Bay see that this relationship she was in right now was going to be extremely hard on both of them?_ "I mean . . . what do you guys even **do** together."

Bay stopped at the bottom of the stairs that would lead to her to her first period class and turned back to face me.

"First, I **don't care** if he's Deaf. Second, he **does** talk to me. Maybe not with his voice, but . . ."

"You mean Sign Language? That's not the same!"

I could tell she wasn't going to let me talk her into breaking up with Emmett, but if she didn't end it herself, Marcus would try something. She had to know that! Marcus isn't someone you wanted to get mad at you.

She ignored me and continued, "And as for interpreting for him. He doesn't want my help with that. He can read lips. He doesn't **need** me to interpret for him and he **hates** it when I try too."

"But you don't even have to **try** with Marcus." I said trying one more time to see if I could talk her out of this.

I didn't want to tell her what Marcus and Dean had planned; mostly because I didn't want to know what Marcus would do to **me** if he found out that I told Bay what was going on, but if there was no other way to get her to see reason I** would** tell her everything. Bay was my friend. I didn't want to see **her** get hurt either.

"You don't have to learn a new language for him. You don't have . . ." But before I could finish, Bay interrupted me again.

"Why was your boyfriend in Emmett's house last night?"

That was honestly the last thing I would have expected her to say. Her boyfriend most of told her. Her boyfriend most have saw Dean in his house.

Well . . . now I would have to tell her something. Marcus would be furious about me telling Bay even this much.

Luckily, the late bell rang. Still, I paused for a secant, wondering if maybe a should fill her in on some of what was going on. But, deciding I had done enough damage for now, I turned and hurried off to my class.

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><p>First period was terrible. I couldn't pay attention to anything that the teacher was saying. My mind kept drifting off to Bay, Marcus, . . . and Dean.<p>

_How could my boyfriend and I get caught up in this? _

I knew the answer to that. Marcus and Dean where on the football team together and have been friends for years. Somewhere along the way, Marcus became the 'leader'. He is the one that makes all of the decisions between the two of them.

Lately, Marcus's ideas have been getting more dangerous. Getting into fights, taking drugs to enhance there playing on the field, drinking, partying, etc. After so many years of listening to Marcus, my boyfriend can't seem to tell him no to anything. Now Marcus wanted Dean's help in breaking up Emmett and Bay.

Worst part is that now that I am going out with Dean, Marcus expects me to also join in on his crazy schemes and Dean has been pressuring me into helping too.

I really like Dean. He is cute, funny, entertaining, and I love being with him when we aren't running around with Marcus. He is a completely different person when he's not around his friend.

Finally, the bell rang signaling the end of first period. I quickly packed up my books and hurried outside to meet up with my boyfriend, hoping that Marcus wouldn't be around right now. I wanted to talk to Dean alone about what was going on.

Hurrying out the door, I saw Dean sitting on a bench by himself. I hurried over and sat down beside him.

"Hey, how was your class?" he asked putting his arm around me and pulling me closer to him.

I shrugged and snuggled closer to him.

There was a short silence between the two of us before Dean spoke again. "Marcus wants to talk to us after our next class. Something to do with Bay and her boyfriend again."

I sighed, "What now?"

"Don't know. He wants us to meet him here."

He knows how I feel about his relationship with Marcus, but somehow he always manages to get me to continue with his friend's crazy ideas. But this involved one of my closest friends. Bay. I didn't want to have any part in this one.

I pulled away from Dean a little to look at him. "I don't think we should go along with Marcus on this one."

"Simone . . . he's my friend and needs my help . . ."

"To break up my best friend's relationship?"

Dean stared at me for a secant before continuing. "I thought you wanted them to break up."

"I do . . . I mean, I did . . . Bay likes Emmett . . . a lot. She's my friend. I don't want to be involved with this and if you continue to help Marcus with this scheme of his I'll tell Bay what's going on." I paused to make sure Dean understood how serious I was taking it this time. "I'll tell her everything you guys are planning."

"The guys Deaf, Simone. They wouldn't last long anyways. We're just . . . speeding up the process."

"You don't know that . . .!"

"Look, why don't we just meet here after class, find out what Marcus wants us to do. Then you can decide if you still want a part in this."

"I don't need to think about it! Bay's my friend. I don't want her getting hurt."

I could tell Dean had had enough. He grabbed his bag that was lying on the ground by his feet and stood up. He turned back to look at me long enough to tell me to meet him here and then stormed off to his class.

He knew I would listen to him . . . I always do.

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><p>Second period was worse then first.<p>

_What was I going to do? _

Dean always does whatever Marcus says and I usually do whatever Dean asks me too. It's a vicious cycle that couldn't go on forever without someone getting hurt. I never would have thought Bay would be involved.

The class seemed to go by very slowly, which just made me worry even more about what Marcus wanted us to do.

Finally, the bell rang. I slowly packed up my stuff, dreading what I would find outside.

Just like Dean had promise, he and Marcus where waiting on the hill not far from the bench Dean and I had sat on less than an hour ago.

I thought about just leaving them there to deal with what ever they wanted to do, but Dean saw me and waved for me to come over and join them. Hesitantly, I obeyed.

_Might as well see what else Marcus has up his sleeve._

"What's going on?" I asked when I got closer to them.

Marcus turned around to face me. "I need you and Dean to talk to someone at Carlton."

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

John seemed almost to excited when I asked him if he could drive me to school today. Ever since he found out about the switch he has been trying to find ways to 'hang out' with his real daughter.

The whole way to school he tried to start up a conversation, but I wasn't in the mood to talk. I wanted to find Emmett and ask him what happened this morning.

When Emmett had first told me about him and Bay's relationship he told me it wasn't going to affect ours. We would still hang out at school. We would still work on homework and study together. And he would still pick me up for school.

We have still been hanging out during school, but that was all that had stayed the same. Emmett does homework with Bay and this morning he picked her up. Everything has been changing in my life recently and Emmett promised that nothing would change between us.

_Why was he doing this to me?_

"Ever since you two started going out you are spending **all** of your time with her." I plead with him, hoping he would see how much this was hurting me. "During school is the only time I get to see you now without Bay hanging around."

Emmett sighed, obviously wanting me to let it go. "You have other friends. When I am with Bay why don't you spend more time with them?"

_Does he not want me as his friend anymore? Am I losing him completely to Bay?_ "Are you saying you don't want to be friends anymore?"

"No, I'm trying to tell you that you need to make other friends besides me. Find someone else to hang out with while I'm spending time with Bay."

_Was I really that much of a pain for him to be around?_

"But . . . we have known each other a lot longer than you and Bay have. I don't understand why you have to spend all your time outside of school with her. Why can't we still hang out like we used too," I signed. I just wanted things to be at least something like they where before.

Emmett was about to say something else when a light flashed on the wall, signaling the start of the school day. At that same moment Mrs. Ryan; Emmett's science teacher, appeared at the open door waiting for him to enter.

Turning back to me, Emmett quickly signed that we would finish this conversation later and then hurried around his teacher into the classroom.

I was losing my best friend.

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><p>Second period had just ended and I was heading to my locker to change out my books.<p>

I grabbed my lunch and the books I needed for my next class and then stood up to close my locker. Turning around I almost pumped into someone.

It was a girl I had never seen before. She appeared to be about my age. She had long, slightly wave brown hair and light blue eyes.

"Sorry," I said and signed.

"It's fine," she answered. I guessed she was hearing from her response. _Why was she at Carlton? _

"Are you Daphne?"

"Yeah . . . Who are you?"

"Sorry, I'm Simone," she answered, extending her hand.

I ignored the gesture. "I have to go. Class," I said before turning to leave.

"Wait!" She called to me and grabbed my arm forcing me to stop. "Can I talk to you a second?"

"About what?" I asked starting to get irritated. I just wanted to be alone right now.

"About Bay and Emmett."

I gave her a confused look. _What was going on?_

"I'm a friend of Bay's. We go to school together."

I shook my head. I didn't have time for this. I wished she would just get to the point of why she was here. "What about them?"

Simone hesitated for a secant before continuing. She seemed agitated about something. "You know Emmett, right? You're good friends?"

"Yeah . . . at least we have been. Why?"

She hesitated again before continuing. "Just friends?"

Now it was my turn to hesitate. I hadn't told anybody about my feelings towards Emmett, not even my mom who I have told everything to when growing up. _How did she . . .?_

She most of figured out my answer from the look of shock that most have been plastered on my face, for she continued, "I know that he has had a crash on you for awhile. I bet if you told him how you felt he would dump Bay in seconds . . ."

"How do you know this?"

"My boyfriend found stacks of pictures of you guys together . . ." She stopped midsentence, seeming to realize that she had said too much.

Of course Emmett had pictures of us together. We have been friends for years. I had been his muse for years.

Now that I thought about it, we had spent a lot of time together growing up, just the two of us. _Has he had a crash on me all these years? _

_How did this girl know about the photos?_

"I have to go," with that said she turned to leave.

_What was going on? _Suddenly, I didn't feel like going to class. I wanted to be alone. I needed to think things through.

I headed down the hallways and stepped into the Janitor's closet, huddling behind shelves of cleaning supplies.

Something was differently going on, but what? As I sat there behind the shelves, all the pieces started to slowly come together.

Last night, Bay was worried about rather I would be at Buckner today for my cooking class. This morning, Emmett seemed tense about something and it wasn't just me pestering him with questions. He seemed stressed about something before I started talking to him. Now, Simone shows up here talking about photos and Emmett and I getting together. Something was going on and Emmett and Bay where in the middle of it and Simone was trying to pull me into it.

To my surprise, tears started to run down my face.

I didn't know much, but from what Simone said this had something to do with breaking up Emmett and Bay, and they wanted my help.

* * *

><p>I stayed in the closet all through third period, trying to decide rather I should tell Emmett about my visitor today. Meanwhile, the tears continued to come and go.<p>

Finally, I took my cell phone out of my pocket to check the time. Five minutes until my lunch break. Emmett would probably be waiting by our usually table. _What would I tell him?_

I had no idea, but maybe seeing my old friend would help me clear my mind, at least for a little while.

With this in mind, I slowly stood up from my crouched position and headed outside to meet up with Emmett.

As I headed outside, I saw Emmett already sitting down at the table. I pulled my lunch out of my pack back and headed over to join him.

Not wanting Emmett to know that I had been crying, I hardly glanced at him as I sat down and opened up my lunch. As I pulled out my sandwich to start eating, I thought over everything that had happened today. Things had seemed to go from bad to worse. Finally, I raised my head to look Emmett in the eyes.

Watching his expression change, I knew my eyes most be red from all the crying I did.

"What's wrong?" He quickly signed.

I stared at me for a while, trying to figure out how to put everything that I was thinking into words. Finally, I shook my head. I didn't want to start another argument right now. "Forget it. It's nothing."

"You wouldn't be crying if nothing was wrong." He signed back.

Of course he would push the subject. He was always worried about how his friends where feeling. That was just the kind of guy Emmett was. It was one of the many reasons why I liked him so much.

Trying to shake off that thought I signed, "It's not important." What I wanted was answers. I put my sandwich down, before continuing. "Can you tell me now why you drove Bay to school today?"

I watched him closely as he signed, "I don't see why it's such a big deal. She is my girlfriend . . ."

"You told me that you two dating wasn't going to get in the way of our friendship and now you are driving **her** to school." _Was Bay in trouble? Why won't he tell me what's going on? _"You **always** pick me up."

"Bay is . . ." He paused, seeming to try to think of the best way to explain the situation to me. "Bay is having problems with a boy at her school."

I tilted my head to the side trying to figure out what he wasn't telling me. I knew there was more going on. "What do you mean 'problems'?"

Then, slowly he signed. "Another boy has asked her out and . . ."

"What? You don't trust your girlfriend?" I don't know why I signed that. That wasn't what I wanted to say at all. Before I could say anything else, Emmett jumped back in.

"That's not it!" He tried to explain, but I interrupted him again.

"How can you have a descent relationship without trust?" It was like someone else was controlling me. Someone else was making me sign this. I wanted to tell him about Simone, about what she had said to me, but something was stopping me from doing it.

"There is more to then . . ." Emmett tried to explain more, but I interrupted again.

"You always told me Deaf and hearing relationships would never work out. You probably should have followed your own advice."

"Daphne!"

What I really wanted to tell him was how I felt about him, but I didn't want to ruin his relationship with Bay. I wanted my friend back, but I didn't want to hurt him by forcing him to end it. _Why would Simone want to do that to Bay?_

I didn't wait around to see what Emmett wanted to tell me. I had heard enough for now. I just wanted to be alone again.

I stuffed my half eaten sandwich back into the paper bag and stood up to leave.

I could sense Emmett standing up to follow me and hoped that he would just let me go, but he caught up with me when I reached the trashcan on the other side of the outdoor sitting area.

He touched my arm, trying to get me to look at him, but I just shrugged him off and turned to head inside. _Why can't he just leave me alone right now?_

This time he grabbed my shoulder and turned me half way around, so I could see him sign. "You don't know the full story."

All I could do was stare at him. **Now** he wanted to tell me everything? **Now** he wanted to tell me what was going on? Well, right now I didn't want to hear it.

"I know more then you think I do."


	13. Chapter 12

Hey guys, sorry for the wait. I have been getting a lot of homework and there has been several tests that I had to study for the past couple of weeks. Finally, I am on Spring Break and have had the time to update. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please read and review.

Also, what did all of you think about the spring final? I still can't believe Emmett cheated on Bay _**with Simone**_! Still, I hope this doesn't end Emmett and Bay's relationship for good. After this, I do think they need a break, but I'm hoping that they will eventually get back together. Your thoughts? Let me know.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

For the rest of the day I had trouble concentrating. All I could think about was what was going to happen with Marcus after school.

Every minute that went by, every class period got me closer and closer to having to talk to him. I didn't understand why he **had **to talk to me. I didn't want to go out with him. I already told him that.

Then there was the whole thing with Simone and her boyfriend, Dean, leaving school early. _What where they doing?_ It had to be part of Marcus's "_plan_". What he had in mind though, I didn't know. Whatever it was, I was sure it had to do with breaking Emmett and I up.

What I really didn't understand was why Marcus seemed so sure that breaking me up with my boyfriend would make me **want** to go out with him? There had to be something else that I was missing.

Before long, the bell signaling us to head to our last period rang. I slowly packed up my sketchbook and pencils from my art class.

I was dreading the idea of having to see Marcus, Simone, and Dean all in the same room together.

As always, Simone was waiting for me outside of my 5th period class. I just turned away from her and started for History.

"I know you're mad at me," she said as she came up next to me, "but . . ."

"But what?" I asked, not giving her the chance to finish. "You don't seem to care in the least what Marcus decides to do to me."

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about . . ."

"Oh, don't start pretending that you care what happens now. You have made it clear that you don't want me to be with Emmett and that you think that Marcus and I are _perfect_ for each other."

"I don't think you and Marcus are perfect for each other . . . not anymore."

I slowed my pace and turned to look at her.

"With his mood swings and abusive past," she continued slowly, "he may not be someone you want to get in the middle of."

I stopped and stared at her.

"Don't get me wrong," Simone added, "I still don't understand why you are into the deafie, but he has to be better than Marcus."

"Where is this coming from?" I asked, shocked that she seemed to be coming onto my side now.

"You're my friend. I don't want to see you get hurt. I told Dean that. I don't want to be a part of this anymore." She had this pleading look in her eyes, begging me to forgive her. "I can tell you everything they have been planning to this point."

"You've been helping Marcus and Dean try to break me and Emmett up. It's going to take more then this to make me forgive you."

I started to walk away again before Simone said something that I was not expecting.

"They are trying to get Daphne to help."

_**Simone's Point of View**_

The rest of the way to class, I filled Bay in on Marcus's plan. I told her everything that he had asked Dean and I to do and what Marcus had in mind for Daphne's help. By the time we got to the classroom, Bay was completely caught up on everything.

We both paused in the doorway when we noticed that both Marcus and Dean were already here.

They were talking quietly to each other. They seemed to be arguing about something, but then Dean made eye contact with us and tapped Marcus on the shoulder to inform him of our entrance.

Knowing that Bay was still taking in all the information I had just told her, I didn't think it would be a good idea for anything to happen between the three of them right now. I thought it would be best to wait until after school for the confrontation when Bay's deaf boyfriend gets here.

I grabbed Bay's arm in pulled her away from the doorway, knowing that the boys where following us with their eyes.

I had a pretty good feeling that they knew I had told Bay what they were up too.

_What would Marcus do to me now? _

Better question . . . _Would Dean stop his best friend from threating me?_

_**Marcus's Point of View**_

I watched as Bay and Simone headed towards their seats. Sitting down, they immediately started to whisper to each other until the bell rang.

I didn't pay attention to the teacher as she started her lecture on the next chapter of our textbooks. I had more important things to worry about than History class.

I knew what Simone was doing . . . _**traitor**_. I knew from the moment Dean started dating her that we couldn't trust her. Simone was obedient enough, but when it came right down to it she couldn't hurt her friends and family. This made her weak. Dean didn't see it that way.

But I could tell that Bay was different. She was snarky and a quick thinker. Sure, she was tough on the outside, but it wouldn't take much to break her down. I had a feeling that it would take a bit of persisting to get her to break it off with the deafie, which I was more than willing to help her with. She would be mine . . . soon.

Though, I still don't understand how Bay could turn **me** down; rich, popular, football player . . . and for the deafie? What does she see in that Deaf kid? For some reason, Bay wasn't thinking clearly. Once they break up, she will realize that she should be with me.

I spent the class period deciding exactly what I was going to say to Bay and imaging what I would do if she dared to deny me again.

* * *

><p>I didn't move when the bell rang. I kept my eyes on the back of Bay's head, watching as she quickly packed up her stuff.<p>

I could almost read her thoughts. She was hoping to make a mad dash out of the classroom, but I had no plans on letting her get outside. Her boyfriend would be waiting for her out there. I wanted . . . needed the chance to talk to her without **him** interfering.

As Bay headed for the door, I hurried over and blocked her path.

"I need to talk to you," I sent her a don't-mess-with-me look.

Taking a step back she said, "Get out of my way. We'll talk outside." I could see the worry on her face. She already knew that I wasn't going to let her leave that easily.

"With your boyfriend? I don't think so."

This whole time, our voices were barely above a whisper. I wanted the other students and; more importantly, the teacher to leave without thinking that anything was wrong.

As I was hoping, our History teacher packed up her stuff and headed out with the rest of the kids.

I saw Bay and Simone share a look on her way out, but thought nothing of it as Simone headed out behind everyone else.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I had been on edge for the rest of the school day. Not only was Bay having problems with that guy, Marcus, but Daphne apparently was going through something too. But there was no point in worrying about Daphne right now.

Bay needed me first.

I left Carlton as soon as the last bell rang, not bothering to stop by my locker on my way out. I ended up pulling into Buckner a couple minutes before their school let out.

Coming to a stop in front of the building, I took off my helmet and got off the bike. At first, I couldn't stay still. With my hands in my pockets I began to pace back and forth, slowly walking over to the bottom of the stairs that lead into the building and then back to my bike.

It wasn't long until I saw kids start to come out of the school. The bell must have just rung. I headed back to lean against my bike as I searched the crowd of students for Bay and Marcus.

After a couple minutes, the pour of students began to slow down and still there was no sign of Bay or Marcus.

Something was wrong.

Heart beating fast, I hurried back to the stairs; planning to take them two at a time, but paused when the door opened again.

It was Simone.

I hurried up the stairs, hoping she would be able to tell me what was going on.

Luckily, I didn't have to try and ask her with a bunch of gestures that would have taking forever for her to understand and would have wasted what I was sure was precious time.

She knew what I wanted to know and the news wasn't good.


	14. Chapter 13

Hey everyone! Here is the new chapter. Hope you like it.

Please read and review. :D

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 13<span>**

After a couple minutes, the pour of students began to slow down and still there was no sign of Bay or Marcus.

Something was wrong.

Heart beating fast, I hurried back to the stairs; planning to take them two at a time, but paused when the door opened again.

It was Simone.

I hurried up the stairs, hoping she would be able to tell me what was going on.

Luckily, I didn't have to try and ask her with a bunch of gestures that would have taking forever for her to understand and would have wasted what I was sure was precious time.

She knew what I wanted to know and the news wasn't good.

"Marcus has Bay trapped in the classroom."

For a slit second, I wondered why she seemed to want to help me. _I thought she wanted Bay to end up with Marcus . . . not me. _

I blinked the thought away. I would figure it out later. Right now I needed to find Bay.

Bay . . .

_**Marcus's Point of View**_

After everyone left the classroom I went to close and lock the door from the inside. Turning back, Bay hadn't moved from where I left her.

I put my hands in my pockets as I walked back to stand in front of her.

"We need to talk."

"We can talk outside. My boyfriend . . . " She tried to say, but I interrupted her.

"Yeah, we need to talk about why you turned **me** down for the _deafie_. Why are you dating that guy?" I tried to keep the anger out of my voice. I wanted to save that for later if I needed something else to try to get her to cooperate with me.

Ignoring my question, she continued on with her sentence.

"My boyfriend is waiting for me. He'll think something is wrong if I don't go out soon." I could tell that she was trying to keep the worry off of her face, but she wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it.

"Your Deaf boyfriend? Why are you going out with him?"

She just stared at me.

I was starting to get irritated. I wasn't getting anywhere this way and if the deafie really was waiting outside right now he would be coming in looking for Bay soon.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, I grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and shook her a little. "Answer me!"

She pushed my arms off of her and stared at me for a second before slowly answering my question. "Emmett isn't like most boys. He's artistic, smart, funny, and sweet. He . . ."

"And what about me! I'm rich . . . I'm on the football team . . . I'm popular . . . and I'm **not** Deaf!" I yelled at her. The choice seemed obvious to me.

But then Bay started to scream back at me. "Emmett might be Deaf, but at least he listens to what I have to say without interrupting me! _**He's not you!**_"

Not realizing what I was doing, my hands came up and shoved her back hard. The impact caused her to fall down onto her back, hitting her head hard on the uncarpeted floor.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I was about to try and ask Simone what room I would find Bay in; but again to my satisfaction, she seemed to know what I was going to ask before I had to give the frantic gestures a try.

"Straight down the hall. Fourth door on your right." She answered fast, pointing with her thumb to the front door just behind her.

Silently thanking her, I made my way quickly around Simone and pushed my way through the front doors, heading straight for the classroom.

Reaching the classroom, my hand went straight for the doorknob, but it wouldn't turn. I glanced through the small window in the door and saw the back of some guy standing in front of Bay. That had to be Marcus. They seemed to be arguing about something.

Seeing Bay through that small window in the door, I gave a short sigh of relief. She seemed to be okay, at least for the moment. In the mean time, I needed to find a way to get into the classroom.

I looked up and down the hall, trying to find a teacher, janitor, . . . anyone that could unlock the door. Not seeing anyone in the hallway I turned back to the little window, which was my only link to what was going on with my girlfriend.

I had turned back in time to see Marcus's arms straight out in front of him and Bay's head hitting the tiled floor.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

My head hurt.

There was a throbbing sensation . . .

on the back of my skull.

I couldn't remember where I was.

_What happened?_

I was laying on something hard.

I tried to shift into a more comfortable position.

My body wouldn't move.

There was a funny taste in my mouth.

I felt like I was going to be sick.

I could hear something.

Someone was pounding on a door.

_Was someone trying to get in?_

I could feel a presence already in the room.

Someone was kneeling down beside me.

The presence was trying to say something.

I couldn't make out the words.

There was a buzzing in my ears.

I tried to open my eyes.

They wouldn't move.

I felt something grab my shoulder.

It started to shake me roughly . . .

back and forth.

The rocking pattern made my head hurt more.

I tried to tell the presence to stop.

I couldn't form the words.

The pounding at the door stopped.

I didn't want them to leave.

I wanted to call them back.

No sound came out.

I didn't want to be alone.

Something wasn't right.

I wasn't safe.

The presence stood up.

I felt a sudden sharp pain in my side.

I moaned in pain.

I tried to move again.

Wanted to get away.

My body wouldn't respond.

I felt more pain on my side.

The presence was kicking me.

I heard someone at the door again.

This time it open.

I heard the presence running away.

For a second, I thought the new presence . . .

was going to follow him.

I didn't want him to leave me.

He didn't.

Someone was kneeling down beside me.

There was a soft hand on my face.

The new presence was trying to say something.

The voice was deliberate . . .

and hollow-sounding.

"Bay . . ."


	15. Chapter 14

Hey, sorry about the wait. School and final exams have been keeping me busy that last couple of weeks, but now its summer! Meaning I will have more time to write!

Hope you like the new chapter.

Please read and review.

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I had turned back in time to see Marcus's arms straight out in front of him and Bay's head hitting the tiled floor . . . hard.

**I** could almost hear the impact.

_**Bay!**_

Desperate to get to her I reached for the doorknob again, forgetting that it was locked.

Looking back through the window I saw Marcus heading towards Bay, who was now laying on the floor.

I started to pound on the door with my fist trying to distract him, get him away from Bay before he did something else to her.

It wasn't working. He wouldn't even look in my direction. Instead, I saw him kneel down beside her.

I had one hand still in a fist pounding on the door, trying to get Marcus to look at me. The other was still frantically trying to get the doorknob to turn.

_Well, this obviously wasn't working._

I looked back down the hallway and saw a janitor staring at me like I most be crazy. By now I probably half was.

Not wanting to leave Bay for long I hurried over to the janitor and started to pull on his sleeve, trying to get him to follow me. He pulled his arm away from me and was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't focus long enough on his lips to figure out what it was.

I pointed to my ear and shook my head, trying to explain to him quickly that I couldn't hear him. I took a couple steps away from him, half turning back down the hall, and used my hand to show him to follow me.

He seemed to get the idea that something was wrong and obediently follow me back to the door I had been pounding on.

Reaching the door again, I check through the window to see what was going on. Bay was still on the floor with Marcus now standing over her, **kicking her**.

I quickly moved aside to let the janitor see what was going on. Secants later he was reaching for the ring of keys he had attached to the belt loop of his jeans.

As soon as the door was unlocked, I pushed my way passed the janitor and into the classroom.

This finally got Marcus's attention.

He turned and made a run for the door. Part of me wanted to follow Marcus and make him regret what he had done to my girlfriend, but Bay was still lying on the tiled floor, not moving.

I quickly made my way over to her, kneeling down beside her. I put my hand softly on her cheek watching for any kind of response from her. Nothing.

"Bay," I mouthed, trying to get up the courage to say it out loud.

I hadn't spoken since that day eight years ago when I had first meet Daphne, but I was frantic to try and get a reaction from the girl lying in front of me.

With my other hand I reached for her's and squeezed it lightly.

"Bay," I tried again, louder. Still nothing.

I saw someone stepping around me to get a better view of Bay. Not wanting to take my eyes off of her, I waited as the person kneeled down beside us before glances in his direction.

It was the janitor that had unlocked the door.

He looked at me as he slowly reached his hand out to touch Bay. He seemed to be asking if it was okay for him to check on her. I nodded for him to go ahead.

I watched as he careful touched the back of Bay's head before taking out his phone and dialing a number. He flipped the phone around to show me who he was calling.

911

I quickly nodded again, telling him to continue as I focused my full attention back to Bay.

* * *

><p>The janitor had left the room when he heard the ambulance pulling up. It seemed like forever until he came back, followed by the paramedics.<p>

I moved aside for them to get to her.

I kept my eyes on the paramedics knowing that they might ask me some question about what happened, but they weren't facing towards me.

I noticed that the janitor seemed to be talking to them. Maybe he was answering their questions.

Knowing that I was Deaf, I knew he was trying to help, but I could do it myself. Bay was **my** girlfriend. I wanted to help.

Finally, the paramedics turned to me.

"Can you read lips?" I saw him say. The janitor must have told them.

I nodded and waited for him to continue.

He pointed to Bay still lying on the floor. "She your girlfriend?"

I nodded again and waited.

"Can you get in touch with her family? We need to take her to the hospital."

I didn't have John or Kathryn's cell phone numbers, so I couldn't text them. I did have Regina's in my phone and Daphne's. I could text her and she could let everyone know to meet us there.

I took out my phone and texted my friend.

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

I was lying on my back on my bed at the Kennish's gust house, staring at the ceiling. So many thoughts were running through my head.

Emmett, my best friend, was dating Bay. They were already together by the time I started to have feelings for my friend . . . and now I had lost my chance.

Simone had said that she thought Emmett had had feelings for me before he met Bay. If this was true . . . how could I not have known?

I could still tell Emmett about my feelings towards him, but then I would be putting Emmett in a position where he would have to choice between Bay and I.

I didn't want to put him through that.

And why was Simone trying to break them up?

Emmett had said something about another guy at Bay's school. Did that have something to do with this?

_What was going on? _

My phone vibrated from where it sat on the table by my bed. I slowly reached over to grab my phone and held it up so I could see the screen.

It was Emmett.

With everything that had been happening and with my newfound feelings for my former friend, I was a little hesitant to open the text, but when I did . . .

I jumped up and headed out of my bedroom door and into the kitchen, hoping I would find my mom there.

The kitchen was empty.

Thinking that she might have gone over to talk to the Kennish's I headed out the front door.

I walked in without knocking and found my mom, John, and Kathryn all there.

They had turned around when they heard me enter. Their expressions had changed to concerned when they saw me.

"Daphne, what's . . ." I saw Kathryn's lips move, but I didn't let her finish.

"Something is wrong with Bay."

"What? How do you know?" Kathryn's lips again.

Instead of answering, I handed my cell phone to my mom who was the closest to me. I watched her face as she read the message from Emmett.

"Oh my God . . ." She turned to face the Kennish's and away from me, but I knew what she was telling them. "Bay's in the hospital."

Everyone was suddenly moving.

My mom handed my phone back to me as she hurried out the door to get her purse and keys.

John hurried out behind her. I guessed that he was heading to find Toby in his garage to tell him what was going on.

I watched as Kathryn gathered up her stuff as well, before heading to their car.

Proceeding out behind her, I passed John and Toby as they were hurrying over to Kathryn.

I got to my mom's car just as she was getting in.

As my mom waited for John and Kathryn to pull out first, I thought back to what had been going on the last couple of days.

Simone, Emmett, Bay . . . I didn't care what happened anymore.

I just hoped Bay was going to be okay.


	16. Chapter 15

Sorry for the wait guys. For the past couple of weeks I have been taking a summer class online and I got laser eye surgery just over a week ago and needed time for them to heal.

Anyway, I have filled this chapter with a lot of drama. Hope this makes up for the delay.

Thanks again for reading and please review.

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I watched as the paramedics carefully picked Bay up and put her on a stretcher to take her to the ambulance waiting outside. As soon as they had her situated on the gurney I moved over to give her hand another squeeze, still hoping to get a response from her.

Still nothing.

I stayed by her side as they wheeled her out and stood back as they lifted her into the vehicle.

One of the paramedics put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. "Want to ride in the back with her?" I quickly nodded. There was no way I was going to leave Bay's side while she was knocked out like this.

The men moved aside for me to get in. They had set up the stretcher so that one side was up against the left wall of the vehicle.

One of the men motioned for me to go all the way to the back. There I found about two feet of space between where Bay's head lay and the wall that blocked the view to the drivers seat. In this space there was a plastic board about an inch thick sticking out of the wall for anyone to use as a chair. I took a seat and put a hand lightly on Bay's cheek.

I looked up to see that two of the men where climbing into the back with us and started to work on Bay again. The other quickly closed the door behind them. I guessed that he was going to be driving.

Soon after that, the car started moving and we headed out of the parking lot.

I kept my eyes moving from Bay to observing what the paramedics were doing. First, one of them slid an oxygen mask over her head, checked her heart rate, and looked in her eyes. His lips were moving the whole time and I noticed the other one taking notes.

One of them then grabbed Bay's backpack from somewhere on the floor. I didn't remember seeing them bring it, but then again I had been focused on Bay.

I watched as he started to go through the bag before pulling out Bay's wallet. Opening it, he took out what looked like her driver's license and began to write a couple more notes on the piece of paper.

After this, I stopped paying attention to them and looked back down at Bay.

I thought back to the first time I saw her. I had gone over to pick Daphne up to hang out for an afternoon. Bay had been standing outside, leaning against a car. A small smile had appeared on her face when she saw me looking at her. At the time, I couldn't help but smile back at her before putting my helmet on and driving off with Daphne.

A couple weeks later, Daphne had started taking a cooking class at Buckner. One day when I was waiting for her to finish class I had been taking pictures of some leaves when Bay came up behind me. I showed her some of my photos and she showed me the picture of Regina when she was pregnant with Bay. She had wanted my help with trying to find out where the car was, the one that belonged to her dad.

Heading out to the old junkyard was the first time we had really hung out. That night when I got home I knew I had feelings for her.

One of the first times we had hangout together as a couple was when she had told me about the blank billboard.

I remembered how disappointed Bay had been when the police had almost caught us when we tried to put one of her paintings up on the board. I had gone back later that night to do it myself to surprise her for her birthday.

And when she saw it . . . that smile . . .

The girl lying in front of me had always seemed so full of energy, so full of life. I wasn't used to seeing her so still.

I dug my nails into the palm of my hand, trying to keep my thoughts in the present. It wouldn't do me any good to think back to those times right now. Looking at the dark haired beauty in front of me, I silently pleaded to her to be all right.

I couldn't wait to get my hands on Marcus.

_**Toby's Point of View**_

The car was dead silent as we headed towards the hospital on the other side of town. No one wanted to voice his or her fears and worries about what had happened to Bay.

I wasn't sure how much mom and dad knew about what had happened. All I was told was that Bay was hurt and on her way to the hospital, but I knew beyond a doubt that Marcus had something to do with this.

I had told Emmett to watch out for her. I told him to be there when school had let out. _**What had gone wrong?**_ I needed to talk to Emmett, but first I wanted to see if Bay was okay.

* * *

><p>Arriving at the hospital, dad quickly parked the car.<p>

Regina and Daphne weren't far behind us.

Together we quickly headed to the entrance.

The automatic doors swung open to reveal the clean, white tiled lobby.

It didn't take us long to spot Emmett pacing worriedly back and forth. His hands were in tight fists at his sides. He noticed us almost instantly as well.

He went to pick up a clipboard and a pen that were lying in a chair before heading towards us. I guessed that it was probably paper work that the hospital needed to be filled out. He handed the objects to my mom.

As she scanned over the papers, dad went up to the front desk to find out more information.

Before I could say anything to Emmett, Daphne and Regina had appeared in front of him. Each of them were signing questions, trying to get information as well. I was able to get the gist of what they were saying; something about Bay falling and hitting her head, but I couldn't make anything else out at the speed they were going.

"Kennish's?"

I turned to see where the voice was coming from and saw a man in a white lab coat. I headed over to him behind my parents. I knew Regina, Daphne, and Emmett were close behind me.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Dylan. I have been assigned to look after your daughter." He introduced himself to use and shook my parent's and Regina's hands. He then motioned for us to follow him.

We let my parents and Regina go first while me, Emmett, and Daphne followed close behind.

I tried to pay attention to what the doctor was saying, but was only able to catch parts of it. "Your daughter is still unconscious . . . she may have some broken ribs . . . we won't know the full extent of her injuries until she wakes up . . . she does have a bad bump . . . I am planning on giving her a CT scan . . . wait until she wakes up . . ."

It seemed like an eternity before we made it to Bay's room.

Glancing through the half open door I was able to make out Bay's dark curls and pale face, but the rest of her body was under the sheets.

If it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of her chest and the beeping machines that she was attached to, I would have thought she was . . . no, I couldn't think about that.

The adults slowly entered the room to get a closer look at her. I could hear a soft sob come from my mom and watched as Regina put a protective arm around her. My dad went to take a seat in the abandoned chair by the bed.

Looking over at Daphne, I noticed that she seemed pretty pale herself. All the color had drained from her face. She took a couple steps into the room before pausing again.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see a pained look on Emmett's face. It was weird, but until then I don't think I realized how much he truly cared for the now battered girl.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me a couple steps down the hall so that Bay and the others were no longer in are line of sight. Letting go of me, he took a deep breath before jumping into his story about what had happened.

He was signing pretty fast, but I was able to get most of it. He explained how he had gotten there before the bell rang. How he waited outside and watched for Bay/Marcus through the pour of kids that came out of the building. How he found Bay locked in the classroom and about the janitor that helped him out.

"I'm sorry," he signed, finishing up his story. "I'm really sorry. I'm not going to let him get away with this."

"I know," I signed back by pointing to my forehead. He was there through most of it and he was able to chase Marcus off. That was good enough for me . . . at least for now.

He nodded, giving a sigh, obviously relieved that I didn't blame him at all for what had happened. He then moved to head pass me before I put a hand on his arm, stopping him. There was one more then that I wanted to tell him.

"I want to be there when you confront Marcus about all of this. I want a piece of him too."

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

Bay looked so fragile under the sheets. I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

I took a couple steps into the room before pausing.

All the color had been drained from Bay's face and she was attached to so many machines.

Emmett told me that some boy at Bay's school had did this to her. There was a word for this. It took me a second to bring the word to mind. And then it came to me . . . abuse.

I never understood the point of that word. Why would a guy treat someone that they supposable cared about like this? Thinking about it made me feel nauseas.

I remembered reading somewhere that if a patient didn't wake up within the first five to six hours of being unconscious it would be considered a coma and that could mean serious brain damage.

I didn't want to see her like this.

Desperately wanting something else to look at, I forced my head to turn to scan the rest of the room and saw my mom with her arms around Kathryn. The silent sobs that were coming from her made her knees wobble.

I hurried over to my biological mom. I pointed, showing the woman that raised me the chair that was by the window. Together we helped Kathryn over to it and she collapse into it, her head in her hands.

I turned back to the door, but Emmett and Toby were no longer there. I searched the room with my eyes, but didn't see them anywhere.

_Where did they go?_

I knew that Emmett wouldn't have gone far with Bay injured like this.

As if on cue, Emmett appeared in the doorway with Toby close behind. Once inside the room, Emmett headed straight for Bay's bedside.

My heart started to pick up speed.

Looking back at Bay laying on the bed, I took a deep breath to try and slow down my heart rate. I couldn't be thinking like this right now . . . I couldn't, and yet my whole body was feeling the rejection.

Emmett and I had been friends for eight years. According to Simone he had feelings for me, but he had still choosing Bay. He didn't wait for me to return his feelings and now my body was crying out for him . . . and he didn't even know.

I wanted to tell him how I felt. I need too. Even if he didn't return the feels for me anymore at least I would know that I had tried.

With this in mind I took a couple steps toward him, planning to pull him out into the hallway to talk to him, but paused when I saw him place a hand gently on her cheek.

_What was I thinking?_ I couldn't do this to them. Emmett cared about Bay too much.

Then another thought occurred to me. If I tried to force my way between Bay and Emmett, that wouldn't make me any better than Marcus.

That boy was the reason that Bay was here now. That boy was trying to get Bay for himself. That boy had been trying to break them apart. And now I was about to try the same thing.

What scared me the most was that I no longer cared.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

_Where was I?_

My head was no longer lying against something hard.

It had been replaced by something soft.

There was something sticky on my arms.

There was a constant beeping noise in the room.

I could feel some kind of a tube going in my noise.

The strange object didn't make it harder for me to breath.

It made it easier.

I heard voices getting closer.

They sounded familiar . . .

but I didn't understand why.

I heard one of them crying.

I wanted to comfort them . . .

but I still couldn't move.

Someone was sitting by me.

This presence put a hand on my shoulder.

It didn't feel like the same hand as the presence that had helped me . . .

but he was still gentle.

My stomach still hurt from where the presence had kicked me.

I couldn't sense him in the room now.

That was good.

But the presence that helped me wasn't here either.

That made me worried.

I wanted him here.

The tension in the air suddenly changed.

A new presence had entered the room.

The hand that was on my shoulder was gone.

Another hand was on my cheek.

It was him.

He came back.

I felt save . . .

but something was still wrong.

I could feel a presence staring at us.

Someone wasn't comfortable with the presence next to me.

The tension in the air was growing stronger.

_What was wrong?_

I tried to think of a name for what I felt in the air.

Suddenly it came to me . . .

Jealousy

There was a precious that wanted to take him away from me.


	17. Chapter 16

****I'm on vacation right now. Visiting relatives, but I thought I would post something for you guys. Hope you like the new chapter. Please read and review.

Also, if you have any ideas for later chapters please let me know. Thanks

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

_**Toby's Point of View**_

I stood in the doorway watching how Emmett looked at Bay.

The girl on the bed looked so pale and fragile. She no longer looked like Bay to me. Still, I saw Emmett put a hand lightly on her cheek. I knew that if it was up to him, he wasn't going to move from her side for a long time.

He cared a lot about her. I could see that now.

Just a couple hours ago I had talked to Bay at school, asking her if she was doing okay about the whole Marcus issue. She may have been scared then, but at least she was conscious and responding to me.

Turning my gaze away from Bay and Emmett, I looked around the room. Everyone seemed deeply saddened and depressed on how quickly Bay had changed from the happy artistic girl to the now unconscious pale body that lay in front of us.

My dad was still sitting in the chair by Bay's bedside. He was turned away from me so I couldn't see his face, but I could see his hands that were in tight fists laying on the arm rests.

My mom was sitting in the chair over by the window. She lifted her head from her hands to look again at Bay lying in the bed. She was taking some shaky breaths like she had been crying. Looking closer, I noticed that her eyes were red and looked a little puffy.

Regina was standing right next to Kathryn. She had one hand comfortingly lying on my mom's shoulder. She also seemed to have a hard time taking her eyes off of Bay. Just hoping to see something . . . some sign that she was still there.

I then turned to look at Daphne. She too had her eyes focused on Bay, but the look on her face didn't resemble the others. Instead of appearing as saddened and worried about the girl lying in the hospital bed, she seemed . . . The look in her eyes seemed vigilant. Her hands were in tight fists at her side and her muscles seemed tense. Her jaw was clenched tight.

_What was going on in her mind? What was she thinking about? _

I frowned, trying to figure out what was making her seem so angry. Watching her closely, I then turned again to see what she was looking at.

Then it hit me.

She wasn't looking at Bay . . . she was looking at Emmett. But that didn't explain her attitude.

Daphne then started to approach the bed. I watched as she tapped Emmett on his shoulder. Her back was now turned to me, but I think she signed something to him and then pointed over her shoulder towards the door.

I saw Emmett nod and signed something back. He turned to kiss Bay lightly on her forehead, before getting up and following Daphne pass me and into the hallway.

Turning around, I leaned against the doorframe. At this angle, I had a good view to watch their conversation and to find out what was bothering Daphne.

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

I wanted to tell Emmett how I felt. I needed too. Even if he didn't return the feels towards me anymore, at least I would know that I had tried.

At least that was what I kept telling myself.

Deep down I knew that if he rejected me I would never be the same again. I knew that rather he returned the feelings for me or not our relationship would never be the same. Either he would leave Bay for me or our friendship would turn awkward.

I looked at Emmett's hand that was now resting on Bay's cheek.

_Did I really want to risk everything just to get my feeling of my chest?_ _All I knew for sure was that I didn't want to hide my feelings anymore._

Not giving myself the chance to back out of my decision, I quickly approached Emmett and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I talk to you?" I signed to him when I had his attention and pointed towards the door leading out into the hallway.

He nodded, telling me he would be right there. He then turned back to Bay and kissed her forehead.

My chest tightened at seeing the simple gesture between the two of them.

Finally, he stood up to follow me out and into the hallway.

We had to pass Toby on the way out. I could feel his eyes staring at me in question. He knew something was up.

_Did he know that I was going to try and take Emmett away from Bay? Did this really make me as bad as Marcus?_

I silently hoped I wasn't about to make a huge mistake.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I followed Daphne back into the hallway.

Passing Toby on the way out, he gave us a curious look. I gave him shrug, telling him that I had no idea what was going on either.

Daphne stopped in the same spot that Toby and I had talked just a couple minutes ago, and turned around to face me.

As I waited for her to start, all I could think about was Bay. I wanted to be there when she first woke up. I needed to get back to her.

For the first time since they got to the hospital, I really looked at Daphne. I expected to see the sadness and anxiety in her eyes as I had seen with everybody else lately, but there was a different emotion entirely coming from her.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, making the Y sign with my hand and tapping it against my chin.

I could tell she was hesitating by the way she refused to make eye contact with me. Daphne was looking at the floor, the wall, the ceiling, anywhere but at me.

_Was something wrong? Did this have anything to do with what she had been upset about during lunch at school? _

"Does this have anything to do with Bay?" I asked, trying to get her to talk to me so I could get back to my girlfriend.

She hesitated again before signing, "Kind of."

I raised an eyebrow at her, silently begging her to get to the point.

"It has to do with your relationship."

"What about it?" I folded my arms against my chest.

_Why couldn't she just get to it?_

Finally, she took a deep breath and signed, "I've started to think that maybe you and me . . ."

"Don't." I mouthed, shaking my hands in front of my face. This couldn't be happening.

_Why was she doing this to me . . . and with Bay in the hospital? How could she do this to me now?_

"I started to think about this even before I knew about you and Bay." She jumped in. "I swear it's not to take you away from her."

_Yeah, right. That's why you're telling me this . . . because you __**don't**__ care if we are together or not. _

"How can you do this to me and with Bay in the hospital? Why are you telling me this now?"

Daphne stared at me for a second and slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

_Yeah, __**now**__ you say that. After it's out in the open. _

"I've waited for you for eight years. You had to have known that." I sign back forcefully.

_Why couldn't she have realized this before? I would have been thrilled by this news just a couple of months ago. But now . . .?_

"I wish I had realized it before now, but it took this whole thing happening for me to realize . . ."

_Took what to happen for her to realize? The fact that I have started to spend more time with Bay instead of with her? Having Marcus trying to push his way in between Bay and me? Bay ending up in the hospital with a head injury?_

We continued back and forth for a while. Me trying to understand why on earth she was bring this up with me now and she was attempting to explain to me why we would be perfect together.

"No!" She signed, trying to get me to comprehend what she was trying to tell me. "It's our sense of humor, our history. I'm sorry if this is bad timing, but it'd be dishonest of me to hide it from you. Wouldn't it?"

I looked at her closely, praying that she would understand and let it go. I signed my next sentence slowly so she would know that I was serious and that nothing was going to change right now. "I'm . . . with . . . Bay."

I then turned around and started to head back to Bay's bedside, but quickly decided that I wouldn't be able to sit still with her right now. I needed to go outside for little while. I needed air. I needed . . .

I passed Toby on my way back down the hallway. By the shocked looked on his face I guessed that he had seen our whole conversation. If he had any trouble keeping up with our signing, he clearly got the main points.

"Text me if there is any change with Bay."

He nodded and I started back down the hallway until I felt a hand on my shoulder. Hoping that it wasn't Daphne, I slowly turned around. It was Toby.

"Where are you going?" I saw his lips say.

I paused before signing back. "There is someone I need to talk too."

With that said, I continued down the hall to the main lobby and out the front door.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

I could sense it.

The presence . . .

He had a warm hand on my cheek.

I loved having his touch on my skin.

I hoped he wouldn't leave.

I could feel the emotion in the room.

I could feel it in his touch.

Love.

But . . .

there was another presence in the room

Another emotion . . .

I could feel a presence staring at us.

Someone wasn't comfortable with the presence next to me.

The tension in the air was growing stronger.

This presence wanted to take him away from me.

And . . .

I wanted the unknown presence to leave us alone.

The presence that was with me . . .

he had helped me.

I wanted him with me.

I only felt save when I felt him near.

Truly save.

I didn't want the unwanted presence to take him away.

I didn't want him to leave me.

I could sense the unwanted presence coming closer.

I wanted to tell it to stay away . . .

but I couldn't form the words.

Leave us alone!

I tried to open my eyes.

I wanted to open my eyes.

Don't leave me!

I felt the warm hand disappear from my cheek.

Don't leave!

I felt him kiss my forehead.

Don't leave me!

I could sense him getting up . . .

and heading out.

Don't leave!

Couldn't he feel it too?

She wanted to split us up.

Don't leave me!

It's to late.

I feel him leave.

Come back!

I wait for him.

He will come back.

He won't leave me.

He will be back.

I wait for him.

I wait . . .

And wait . . .

And wait . . .

In the silence . . .

The beeping continued.


	18. Chapter 17

****Hey guys. Sorry again about the wait. College is starting again in a week. A lot has been going on trying to get ready to move back.

Hope you like the new chapter. Let me know what you think.

Please read and review.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

I stared at Emmett as he headed down the hallway to the lobby.

I did it.

I had told Emmett how I felt. I had told him and he rejected me right away. He didn't even want to listen to everything that I wanted to say to him.

I knew . . . deep down I knew he wouldn't leave Bay and now I probably just made the whole situation even worse for him. He wasn't even going back to Bay's bedside. _Where was he going?_

Part of me wanted to run after him. Try to convince him to come back, but he wouldn't want to talk to me right now.

I wasn't sure how to describe how I was feeling. My heart was beating fast and I couldn't feel my legs.

I had ruined it . . . our friendship.

Before Bay . . . before finding out about the switch, Emmett and I would do almost everything together. When Bay came into the picture our relationship had started to change. We didn't see each other as much outside of school, but now it would never be like it once was. I knew that once I told him, he would either leave Bay or our friendship would turn awkward. He had made his choice.

I turned to look towards the doors that lead to Bay's hospital room. Toby was still standing there staring at me. _How long had he been there? Did he see our conversation? How much did he catch? _The look in his eyes told me that he had understood enough. He knew what I had tried to do.

Finally, he turned away from me and entered the room.

I don't know how long a stayed out in the hallway. So many emotions were going through me. My mind kept replaying our conversation.

"_I've waited for you . . ."_

Doctors and nurse walked by me without even a glance. It was like I was invisible. Nobody cared about me. They had **real** sick patients to get to. There was nothing they could do for a broken heart anyways.

"_Why are you telling me this now?"_

Eventually, on shaking legs I slowly made my way back to the door leading to the hospital room. Leaning against the doorframe for balance I stared at the pale form lying on the bed.

"_I've waited for you for eight years."_

This was **her** fault. If Bay hadn't pushed her way into Emmett's life than **we** would be together now. Emmett would have been happy when I told him about my feelings for him. He would have kissed me . . .

" _. . . eight years. You had to have known that."_

_How could I not have known? Eight years?_ Thinking back over everything that had happened over the years it seems obvious now. _Why couldn't I see it before?_

"_How can you do this to me . . ." _

Maybe he did still have feelings for me. This thought made me feel a little better, but then my eyes fell on Bay again. He may still have feelings for me, but Bay was now in his life too.

" _. . . and with Bay in the hospital?"_

Why didn't I realize that before? Of course Emmett would choice Bay over me right now.

Bay was hurt.

Bay was in the hospital.

Bay was the one that needed him.

Right now.

"_How can you do this to me and with Bay in the hospital?"_

I smile slowly appeared on my face as I thought about what I could do to change things.

"_I'm . . . with . . . Bay."_

We'll see about that . . .

_**Bay's Point of View**_

The boy was gone.

He left.

He left me.

I missed him.

I missed him already.

I missed having his touch on my skin.

I wanted him to come back.

The girl had come back.

I could feel her presence again.

I could feel it.

The tension was growing stronger again.

But it felt different this time.

This presence wanted to take the boy away from me.

But it wanted something else.

She didn't just want to get the boy away from me anymore.

She was planning something.

Something bad.

I didn't want her in the room.

Daphne

I wanted her to leave.

I wanted the boy.

I wanted the boy to come back.

I wanted him with me.

Emmett

I only feel save when I feel him near.

Something bad was about to happen.

I could feel it.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I was able to make my way out into the lobby before the shock of what had just happened sank in.

_Daphne had feelings for me?_

I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Sure, I had wanted to be more than friends with her for a long time . . . but that was over. I was with Bay now. I didn't have feelings for Daphne anymore. _Did I?_

If I didn't than why was I feeling this way? If I was really over Daphne I wouldn't even be thinking about this. _Would I?_

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts as I reached to pull my cell phone out of my pocket. I took a seat in the lobby as I pulled up my mom's information.

My mom should be home by now. She didn't know what was going on yet with Bay and honestly I wanted to get another woman's opinion about what was going on with Daphne.

She had been through a lot lately. A lot of things were changing in her life and at a fast pass. Our friendship was one of those things.

Was it possible that it wasn't a relationship that she was looking for right now after all? Maybe she was just missing how we would hang out all of the time and was turning it around in her head making her think it was more? If that was true then once Daphne realized this she would end the "relationship" and I would be alone again.

I pushed the call button on my phone and waited for my mom to appear on the screen.


	19. Chapter 18

****Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy the new chapter. Please read and review

New episodes start tonight! Watching the reruns right now! Can't wait for the new episode at 8:00!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

"_How can you do this to me and with Bay in the hospital?"_

I smile slowly appeared on my face as I thought about what I could do to change things.

"_I'm . . . with . . . Bay."_

We'll see about that . . .

I turned and hurried back down the hallway, pulling out my cell phone as I went.

I saw Emmett out of the corner of my eye as I passed by, but didn't stop to talk to him. Instead, I hurried outside and sat down on a bench by the entrance to the hospital.

I pulled up Simone's information on my phone and sent her a quick text message asking her if we could talk. When I got the okay from her, I called a taxi to come and pick me up to take me to her house.

* * *

><p>"Hey, what's up?" Simone asked when she opened the door for me and quickly moved aside to let me enter her house.<p>

"Can we go to your room to talk?"

"Sure," she replied and motioned for me to follow her upstairs.

Entering Simone's bedroom, I took a seat on one of the chairs by the wall. Simone closed the door before coming over and joining me by sitting down in the other seat.

"Well?"

I paused, trying to decide where to start. "First . . . have you heard about what happened to Bay?"

"No . . . what happened?"

"That guy Marcus . . . he pushed Bay and she hit her head. She's knocked out, in the hospital."

Simone's eyes opened wide in shock. "My god . . ." I didn't catch what else she said. She had turned away from me to reach for her phone on the table close by and started pushing buttons. "Is she okay?" She asked, looking up at me again.

I shook my head slightly. "The doctors won't know until she wakes up."

"My god . . ." she turned back to her phone again.

"There is something else I wanted to ask you." I said, and waited for her to look up again.

"What?"

I paused again, asking myself one more time if I was sure I wanted to do this. "I want to talk to Marcus. Do you know where I can find him?"

"You want to talk to Marcus? After what he did to Bay?" She cocked her head to the right in question. "Why do you want to see him?"

What I wanted was to go out with Emmett. I wanted Emmett to look at me the same way he looks at Bay. I wanted to break Emmett and Bay up and that was what Marcus was trying to do. I wanted to talk to him and get on his side.

"Do you know where I can find him?"

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

"Hey honey. What's up?" My mom asked when she saw me on the small screen, and then she saw my expression. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," I signed back. "Bay is hurt. She's in the hospital . . . "

"What happened?!" She asked, instantly concerned.

Her attitude towards Bay had really changed over the last couple of months. My mom and Bay had been getting along great lately. I could tell that she now cared about Bay just as much as she did Daphne. Not that long ago, I didn't think it would be possible for the two of them to be so close.

I had a feeling that it would be easier to explain everything that had been happening with Bay and Marcus if we talked about it in person. I thought that it would be better to wait until she was here to tell her what had been going on . . . and now everything with Daphne too.

There was just too much to tell over the phone.

"It's kind of long story. I'll explain when you get here."

"I'm on my way." She signed back, and then the connection clicked off.

Now, I needed to get back to Bay.


	20. Chapter 19

Thank for reading everyone! Hope you like the new chapter!

Don't worry, the next chapter will have an update on what is going on with Daphne.

Please read and review! Let me know what you think so far.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

_**Bay's Point of View**_

People were moving.

There seemed to be a nervous tension in the room.

I could hear people moving closer to me and then moving away.

I could feel hands touching my arms, silently begging me to open my eyes.

I could sense the anxiety that everyone was feeling as the minutes ticked by and I wouldn't move.

I tried again to open my eyes.

I wanted to somehow tell them that I was okay.

I didn't want them to worry anymore.

I needed to wake up.

I moved my head to the side; struggling to gain consciousness, but it was no use. My eyelids felt to heavy.

I tried to speak, but my mouth was to dry. All that came out was an unintelligible mumble.

Daphne had come back into the room and then had left again.

I had felt her staring at me. I could picture the angry look that she must have had in her eyes.

_What was she planning? What was she doing now? Where did she go?_

_ Where was Emmett?_

He had been gone a long time.

I could hear some people moving towards the door. I heard them say something about going outside and getting something to drink or eat.

I could hear someone moving to get up out of the seat by my bed and the footsteps as he moved to head out the door with the others.

Toby was still here. I felt the mattress move a little as he sat down on the side of the bed.

I felt his hand wrap around mine and he squeezed lightly.

"Bay?" His voice was filled with worry. "Bay, can you hear me?"

I squeezed his hand. It was the only way I could communicate with him right now, but I could feel the joy that swept through him at the small action.

"Can you open your eyes?"

Instead of trying to answer him I curled my fingers towards the palm of my hand, hoping he would understand what I was trying to ask for.

There was a short pause as I felt him ponder over what I was trying to tell him, and then he squeezed my hand again before getting up and heading out the door.

Leaving me alone.

_**Toby's Point of View**_

I paused outside the door and stared down at my hand.

_Bay moved. She had squeezed my hand. _

A small smile appeared across my face.

Bay was going to be okay. I could feel it. She was trying to come back to us. She just needed a little more time to pull her way throw to get back here.

_She was fighting. _

She knew that we were here for her. She knew that we wanted her to wake up. That we were hoping that she was going to be okay. And she was trying to come back.

I turned to look at Bay's form lying on the pale white sheets of the hospital bed.

_Yeah, she was fighting, but not to get back to me. _

I thought back to the letter she had just signed to me.

"E"

She wanted Emmett.

I understood now. Even unconscious she could tell that we were there. She may not be able to interact with us in her current condition, but that didn't mean that she couldn't since our presence in the room.

She knew who was in the room with her and who wasn't. She knew that Emmett had left her and she wanted him back.

Even unconscious she wanted to have her boyfriend by her side and he had left her alone.

Emmett needed to come back to her.

Bay needed him. She was asking for him.

I turned back down the hallway and hurried to the front lobby to find the others.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

I had just put my cell phone back in my pocket when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Looking up, I saw Bay and Daphne's families coming into the open space of the lobby. A couple of them split from the group to head over to the vending machines in one corner. The others saw me and headed over to seat down.

Scanning over the group, I couldn't find Toby . . . or Daphne. Toby was probably still with Bay, but where is Daphne?

Someone tapped me on the shoulder. Turning around in my seat I came face to face with Regina.

"Do you know where Daphne went?" She signed.

_Regina didn't know where she was either?_ Daphne wouldn't have just left without telling someone, would she?

Of course, I had upset her, but there isn't exactly an easy way to tell a girl that you don't want to be their boyfriend. _Maybe she had called a taxi and had gone home? _

I shook my head and signed back, "I haven't seen her."

"You were the last one to talk to her," she said.

"I thought she went back to Bay's room," I answered honestly. I had been sitting out here in the lobby talking to my mom on my phone. If she **had** left I hadn't seen her pass me, but then again I hadn't been paying attention.

Regina was about to sign something else to me when she suddenly turned to look at something or someone behind me. Turning around to see what had gotten her attention, I saw Toby hurrying over to us. He seemed ecstatic about something.

I stood up to meet him half way. "What happened?" I asked.

"Bay . . . she's asking for you," his signing was still a little rough, but I was able to figure out what he was saying.

"Bay? She's awake?" I signed before moving to head pass him, but he grabbed my shoulder forcing me to turn back.

He shook his head. "She's not awake, but she did squeeze my hand and she signed your name. She wants you."

_Bay moved? She was . . ._

Others in our group hurried over to hear what was going on. Everyone started talking at the same time, asking Toby what was happening. I didn't stick around to try and figure out what they were all saying.

I turned and headed back down to Bay's room.


	21. Chapter 20

****Hey everyone! Thanks again for reading my story. I'm glad you like it so far.

I added a lot of drama to this chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Please review!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

Simone had seemed really hesitant about giving me any information about Marcus. Even so, I was able to convince her to give me his home address after I promised her that I wouldn't go to find him by myself.

I agreed, but had no plans on following through with the promise.

After our conversation, Simone had giving me a ride back to my house. Half way up the driveway I turned back to see her car driving away. With Simone out of sight, I hurried to my car.

In my hand, I now had the piece of paper that contained Marcus's address written on it in Simone's handwriting. I clutched the white paper in my hands desperately not wanting to lose it. This was my ticket to getting Emmett to be my boyfriend.

Sliding into the driver's seat of the car, I turned on my new GPS and plugged in the address that was on the paper.

Somewhere inside me I knew I shouldn't be doing this. This whole plan was impractical. It was selfish of me to go any farther with this plan, but then I thought about how sweet and caring Emmett was. I thought about how he treated Bay, the look in his eyes whenever he saw her, the kiss he gave her in the hospital . . .

I wanted that.

I wanted him.

My GPS finished loading the address and said that my destination was about twenty minutes away.

I pulled my keys out of my purse; which was already in the car, buckled my seatbelt, and quickly backed up the car. Putting the vehicle in drive, I headed out into the road and to what I hoped was not the biggest mistake of my life.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

I could tell when he entered the room.

I could hear Emmett's footsteps as he hurried up to the door. He paused in the doorway for a second, before slowly coming over to the bed.

I felt the bed sink down a little, so I knew that he most have ignored the chair by the bed and was now sitting on the edge of the bed.

He grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly.

"B-bay?"

He said my name again. His voice was rough and hollow sounding, but to me it sounded beautiful.

I wanted him to say my name again. I wanted to hear his voice.

I squeezed his hand hoping that would make him say something else to me.

Just like with Toby, I could feel the joy that swept through him at the small action and as I hoped he said my name again.

I desperately wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to look at Emmett. I wanted to see his bright blue eyes. I could always see the love in his eyes when he looked at me. I knew he had that look on him right now.

I wanted to see him.

I turned my head to the side trying to open them.

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

_She did it! She squeezed my hand!_

I felt kind of silly being so excited about something so simple, but considering the state Bay was in, this was huge. It made me believe that everything was going to be okay. I knew now that she was fighting to get back to me.

"Bay," I said her name again hoping that she would do something else to let me know she was okay.

I watched as Bay turned her head to the side. I saw her eyelids move a little.

I squeezed her hand again encouraging her to keep trying.

"Bay, wake up."

As I watched, Bay's eye fluttered open for a second and then closed again.

I gave her hand another squeeze.

"Bay . . . p-please."

Bay's eyes opened a little bit as she tried to get used to the light and then she turned to look at me.

"E-emmett?" Bay said, speaking my name for the first time since she hit her head. "What happened?" She asked, moving her head back and forth to try and see where she was. She tried to sit up, but I gently pushed her back down and mouthed to her to stay.

"What happened?" She asked again.

I stared at Bay. Something was wrong. I was having trouble figuring out what she was saying. I tried to figure out what was different.

"Emmett?"

Bay was only moving half of her mouth. I looked down at her hand that I was still holding. Her left hand. She was only moving the left side of her mouth.

I had heard of cases where patients that had hit their heads came out of it with half of their body paralyzed.

_That couldn't happen to Bay. Not Bay. _

I looked back up into Bay's eyes. "Can you give me your other hand?" I signed to her slowly. I really hoped I was wrong, but I needed to know. "Can you move your other hand?"

Bay stared at me a second and then turned to look at her right hand that was still lying on the bed. Almost a minute went by before I saw Bay's eyes go wide and she slowly turned to look back at me.

She couldn't move it.

I got up off the bed and pushed the button on the wall to call the doctor.

_**Marcus's Point of View**_

It had been a really weird and bad day.

It had started out fine. I had a plan to talk to Bay to find out what was going on with her and that Deaf kid.

Everything was going fine. The other students and the teacher had left the classroom, as planned. Bay and I were alone in the room and then . . . I had lost it.

I wasn't supposed to hurt her. That wasn't part of the plan . . . well, at least not this soon. I just wanted to talk to her and if I couldn't get through to her, then turn to violence.

I had seen the ambulance pull up as I was pulling my car out into the street.

_They weren't coming for Bay, right? I had just pushed her. _

_Was this enough to get charged on abuse?_

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. _Who could that be?_

"Mark? Can you get that?" My mom called to me from the kitchen.

"Sure"

Worried that it may be the cops, I first peeked through the window to see who it was.

Opening the door, I found a teenage, red headed girl staring at me.

"Are you Marcus?" She asked. She had a weird accent.

_Where did this girl come from? _

"Yes" I answered, staring back at her.

"My name is Daphne Vasquez. I want to help you break up Bay and Emmett."

I continued to stare at her and narrowed my eyes. "Why?"

The mysterious girl standing in front of me just shrugged her shoulders before answering.

"You want Bay. I want Emmett."


	22. Chapter 21

****Hey guys! Hope you like the new chapter.

Please read and review. I love hearing your opinions on my stories!

Thanks again! :D

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 21<strong>

_**Emmett's Point of View**_

Minutes later, Bay's doctor entered the room.

Dr. Dylan had his head down and was scanning the papers he had in his hand. I thought I saw his lips move, but I couldn't tell what he was saying since he wasn't looking at me.

Finally, he looked up and stared at me. It took me a second to relies that he had asked me something when he had his head down. I pointed to my ear and shook my head, trying to tell him I didn't catch what he had said.

I felt someone grab my arm and turned to see Bay. She had grabbed my wrist with her good hand. When I turned around to face her, she let go of me, and tried to sign to me what the doctor had said with her one hand.

"You called him," she signed and then pointed to the button on the wall I had pushed. "He wants to know what's wrong."

It wasn't that hard to figure out what Bay was saying when she signed one handed. It was like when we would video chat on our phones. I hoped Bay would be okay and that she would eventually be able to move normally again, but in the mean time we could make this work.

When she had finished translating for me, Bay dropped her hand back down onto the bed and then turned her head a little to look at the doctor who had now moved to stand at the foot of the hospital bed. Again, I didn't have a clue what she said with the way her lips moved now, but I figured she was telling the doctor about her newfound problem.

The doctor pulled a pen out of his pocket and wrote something down on the paper he had been looking at when he entered the room. He then moved around to stand on the opposite side of the bed from me. I think he asked Bay something else and I watched as my girlfriend shook her head.

Dr. Dylan turned to grab a chair that was up against the wall and pulled it closer to the bed to sit down while he examined Bay. He then reached to pull something else out of his pocket. It was the little hammer I had seen doctors use to check patients reflexes.

I watched as the doctor tapped the hammer lightly against Bay's wrist and then looked back up at her. She shook her head. She couldn't feel it.

I repositioned myself so that I was sitting back down on the bed next to Bay, but was in a position where I could still watch Dr. Dylan as he worked. The doctor moved farther up my girlfriend's arm and tapped again; this time close to the inside of her elbow. She shook her head again.

The doctor continued to move up her arm; this time to her shoulder, and lightly tapped again. Again, Bay shook her head.

I turned back to the doctor, wanting to know what he was going to do about this.

_Was there anything he could do? _

_Was this permanent? _

Instead of answering any of my unspoken questions, he continued to ask Bay to perform tasks to show him what she could move and what she couldn't.

He had her move her left arm and leg; which both worked fine, and then asked about her right leg.

Bay stared down at the small mound in the blanket that represented her foot under the covers. She seemed to be concentrating hard; just like when I had asked her to move her other hand for me, but it was no use. Finally, she turned back to the doctor and shook her head again, fear written all over her face.

I reached down to squeeze her hand.

Dr. Dylan added something to the notes he had been making the whole time, before turning back to ask the girl something else.

She turned to me then and repeated the question to me with her good hand. "Where are my parents?"

"They're waiting in the Lobby," I signed back and Bay turned to repeat this to the doctor.

The doctor then stood up, put his reflex hammer back into his pocket, and told us he would be right back. He then turned and headed out of the room, leaving us with no answers.

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

After our little exchange at the front door Marcus had invited me inside and motioned for me to follow him up the stairs. After a slight hesitation, I followed after him.

As we made our way down the hallway Marcus asked me a question that seemed to be bothering him. "Why do you want to go out with Emmett?"

I paused in the hall and waited for him to turn around and face me. "What do you mean?"

"Well, he's Deaf. Why do you want to go out with someone Deaf?"

I gave him a small smile and signed while I spoke, "I am Deaf." I waited to see what his reaction would be.

I watched as shock flashed across his face.

Before he could say anything I continued without signing. "I can read lips and I went to speech therapy for a couple years when I was younger."

Seeing a blank look on Marcus's face, I just shrugged before adding. "All the more reason to break them up, right?" hoping that would be enough to get us back onto the topic.

He slowly nodded in agreement before turning and heading farther down the hallway.

He lead me to what I guessed was his room and opened the door for me.

Stepping into the room the first thing I noticed was a huge bulletin board along one wall. It reminded me of the one Emmett had in his room that was filled with pictures of me.

I hadn't been in his room in a while. I wondered if his board was still dedicated to me or if he had taking them all down and put up Bay. I hoped he hadn't touched it. That board showed our history. Our whole friendship from over the years was up on that board in his room. If he had touched it; if he had taking it down for Bay, it would just be one more thing that Bay had taken away from me.

And besides, this board in Marcus's room was clearly dedicated to Bay. There were photos of her hanging out with her friends, riding her bike, leaving the library, walking to her car . . . Some of the photos reminded me of one's that my mom had hidden away in that old guitar case that was filled with Bay, but these were from different angles and different perspectives. This guy had obviously had his eyes on Bay for a while.

This chase wasn't new to him. He was just getting started.

First, my mom withholds the information that I'm not really here child from me and instead of letting me grow up knowing my real parents she stalks Bay and hides the photos in an old guitar case.

Then Emmett stops hanging out with me and he starts to spend all of his free time with Bay. Now, pretty much the only time I get to see him is at school when before we spent almost all of our time together . . . and now Marcus?

He definitely appeared to have a huge crush on Bay. Well, . . . one that takes creepy stalker pictures of you, and abuses you so that you end up in the hospital unconscious with a head injury.

Bay had everyone falling all over her and she didn't even seem to care. All I wanted was Emmett. Why couldn't Bay just let me have him!

Marcus noticed me staring at his "Wall of Bay" and came over to join me. I turned to look at him in time to see his lips move. "She's beautiful. Isn't she?" I could imagine his voice being filled with want and a need for her attention.

"Sure," I managed to choke out turning back to look at the wall. "One of the many reasons why Emmett doesn't want anything to do with me."

I felt something on my shoulder and turned to find Marcus's hand lying there.

"That's not true."

I just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.

"He just doesn't know what he's missing," He turned back towards the wall before adding. "And that's what we have to show them."

"What they're missing?" I asked him, confused about what exactly he had in mind.

He motioned for me to take a seat in his desk chair while he moved to take a seat on the side of his bed. I spun the desk chair around so that I was facing him.

_**Toby's Point of View**_

As my family crowded around me to hear what I had to say about Bay's progress, I noticed Emmett sneaking away from the group.

Not for the first time since meeting Daphne and Emmett, I wondered what it was like to not be able to hear anything. Not being able to keep up with what people were saying. Not being able to hear anything. It had to get pretty lonely and frustration at times for the Deaf, especially if they had family and friends who weren't willing to learn their language.

My dad's hand grabbed my shoulder, which forced me out of my thoughts and back to what was going on. Everyone started to talk over top of each other and I had a hard time hearing everyone at once.

No wonder Emmett had hurried away. There was no point in him waiting around here when he couldn't understand what everyone was saying, and besides, Bay had asked for him.

"What did you say about Bay?" My dad asked, when he got my attention.

"What happened?" I heard my mom say, who was standing right behind John.

"Is she awake?" I heard from someone else. I think it was Regina, but again I couldn't be sure with everyone speaking at once.

"No, she's not awake yet, but she is responding," I raised my voice a little to be heard over the voices. "She squeezed my hand."

That seemed to put everyone's mind at ease. Well, at least for the moment.

This was a big step in Bay coming back to us. It gave us hope that everything would go back to normal soon.

Just then, we all turned when we heard the entrance doors to the hospital slide open and in walked Melody, Emmett's mom. Emmett must have called her to let her know what was going on.

Regina hurried over to her and began to sign, catching her up on what she missed. The rest of the family spread apart into smaller groups to discuss the situation quietly to themselves.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment by myself, before deciding to take a seat in one of the chairs in the waiting room. I needed sometime to think by myself.

No . . . what I really wanted to do was get my hands on Marcus. It was his fault that Bay was in here in the first place, unconscious.

Part of me wanted to leave right now and track him down. The other part knew that I should stay here a little longer. Bay was already making progress. I wanted to be close by if anything else happened here with her. And besides, I know that Emmett would want to confront Marcus too.

"Kennish's?"

I looked up and towards where the voice came from, along with the rest of our group.

Dr. Dylan approached us and we all got up to meet him half way and crowded around him, all of us praying for some more good news, but as we got closer we saw the look of concern on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"What happened?"

I heard the people around me asking questions, but I couldn't register whose voices were speaking. I focused on the doctor waiting for him to tell us what he came to say.

"Your daughter's awake," he started, focusing his attention on my parents.

"Well, that's good isn't it?" my mom asked, obviously concerned about the doctor's expression, too.

The doctor paused for a second before continuing. "I would like to perform a brain scan as soon as possible. Your daughter appears to have a loss of muscle function in her right arm and leg."

We all started at him, waiting and hoping for him to say that this was some kind of sick joke.

Loss of muscle function . . .

"Your daughter is half paralyzed."


	23. Author's Note

Hey guys. Sorry for the wait. I have been really busy lately with school. Been getting a lot of homework lately, but I have not forgotten about this story. I am going to keep writing.

In other news, I am planning on adding some new characters to this story and I would like some help with names and background information for the new characters. Fill out the form below and I will choice at least three to add to the story. Thanks

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Appearance:

Personality:

Deaf or Hearing:

Family:

Background:

Additional Information:


	24. Chapter 22

Hey guys. Thank you to everyone who sent me there ideas for the additional characters I am planning on adding to this story. I would also like to thank Amethyst Lynn Willow, amykisersanders, and xTeionx for I will be using their character ideas. They will all show up in the next couple of chapters. Thanks again to everyone that sent in there ideas.

I know this chapter is kind of short. I was planning on making this chapter a little longer, but I didn't want to make you all wait any longer for the new chapter. Hope you like it and I will try to write more for the next one.

Thanks for reading and please review!

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><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

_**Toby's Point of View**_

_Paralyzed? Bay?_

"No! She moved!" I tried to explain to the doctor what had happened just minutes ago in the room. "She moved. She squeezed my hand!" But nobody was paying attention to me.

Looking around at the family and friends that were gathered here, I could see the worry and pain that was on their faces.

My dad was still talking to the doctor, trying to gather more information on what was happening. More tears were running down my mom's checks. Regina moved over to wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"Can we see her?" asked Regina, looking back up at the doctor.

Dr. Dylan turned away from my dad just long enough to nod to them and waved them back. "I'll come back in a couple minutes." he called after them, and then they were gone.

"Is there anything you can do? This isn't permanent?" I turned my attention back on my dad and the doctor, waiting for the response to his question.

"I'm not sure at the moment. I'll have to run some tests before I can give you any more information. I'm sorry." He turned to follow the two women down the hall.

My dad started to follow him back down the hallway. I heard him ask the doctor something about the tests he wanted to run on Bay, but I couldn't hear the response.

I stayed there for several minutes, just shocked.

_ Bay was fine. She had to be. I was just in her room. I just saw here. Bay squeezed my hand. She was improving. Everyone was so happy about the small accomplishment and now . . . she was half paralyzed? _

I forced my legs to move and headed back to the sitting area in the lobby. I took a seat by a girl that looked about the same age as my sister.

_This couldn't be happening. Not to Bay . . . and where was Daphne? _

Would Daphne really have left with Bay in the hospital? She didn't even tell any one that she was leaving or where she was going. That wasn't like Daphne.

I pulled out my cell phone and was about to send a text to Daphne, when the girl next to me put her hand on my arm.

With her other hand she pointed to me and then made the O and K signs in sign language. She was asking me if I was okay. Only then did I notice the hearing aids on her ears.

I nodded and then, with the palm of my hand facing down, I tapped my thumb against my chest. "I'm fine."

I watched as I small smile appeared on her face. "Really?" she signed.

I didn't feel like talking right now. Instead of answering, I turned back to my phone to finish the text message and sent it.

I felt the girl's hand on me again, this time on my shoulder. "Who are you here for?" She was sighing slowly._ Did she know that I was still learning sign language? How could she? _

"My sister," I signed back.

"What happened?"

"She hit her head. There's a guy at my school that likes her . . . but she didn't want to go out with him." I paused before continuing. "He pushed her and . . . now she's half paralyzed . . . This isn't the first time he's done something like this. He's known at our school for being abusive." I said and signed what I could, but the girl didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up with me.

I wasn't sure why I was telling her all of this, but she was really easy to talk too.

She made a fist with her hand and moved it in a circle motion against her chest. "Sorry"

For the first time, I really looked at the girl I was sitting next to. She was short with a slender figure. Her straight platinum blonde hair stopped about an inch above her shoulders, framing her face. She was beautiful.

"What are you doing here?" I signed back, wanting to continue to talk to this girl.

She signed something, but I wasn't able to interpret all of it. Something about her father having to take someone to the hospital. I didn't bother to ask for details.

"Do you go to Carlton?" I asked.

She nodded, "Your friends with Emmett?"

I stared at her, silently asking her how she knew that. She gave me her small smile again and signed, "I saw you talking to him when you came in. He's in my science class."

"Are you and Emmett friends?"

She shook her head. "I just moved here."

I was about to ask her something else, when someone from across the room caught her eye. I turned to follow her line of sight. An older man was signing something and then motioned for her to come.

She turned back to me and signed, "That's my dad. I have to go."

The girl moved to get up, but I put a hand on her arm and waited until I had her attention again. "What's your name?" I asked.

She started by signing out the letters of her name "Tia", before making another sign. She had made the T sign and was making an arched motion against her other arm, going from her shoulder to the inside of her elbow. I guessed that she was showing me her name sign.

From getting to know Emmett and Daphne, I knew that one aspect of Deaf culture was the use of personal name signs and that these names often reflected the person's character or personality in some way. I would have to talk to Emmett to find out what the meaning was behind this sign.

"I'm Toby," I signed back and then showed her my name sign by making a T and brushing my hand past my forehead.

She smiled at me again. "It's nice to meet you."

I smiled back at her and made the Y sign and shook it slightly back and forth. "You too."

I watched her as she turned away from me and headed over towards her father.

I couldn't take my eyes off her.

She had seemed kind of guarded when we had talked, maybe a little shy.

I wished that I could have talked to her more. Having her here for even that short time had made me feel a bit more relaxed after hearing about what was going on with Bay. I was still scared for her, but this girl's willingness to listen to my problems helped me get some of that worry off of my chest.

I didn't know much about this girl and yet there was something drawing me towards her. There was something mysterious about her and I wanted to know more.

"Tia," I whispered her name to myself. I loved how it sounded.

I really hoped I would see her again.


	25. Chapter 23

I am soooo sorry about the wait. This last semester has been really rough. I am now on my summer break, so I should be able to upload faster now. I'm hoping to get new chapters uploaded at least every two or three weeks while on break. Anyway, again sorry about the wait and I hope you like this new chapter.

I am still planning on adding in the other new characters. They will be coming in soon.

Please read and review

* * *

><p><span><strong>Chapter 23<strong>

_**Daphne's Point of View**_

I left Marcus's house after we had laid out the details of our plan to break up Emmett and Bay.

Marcus might have hurt Bay, he might have cause Bay's injuries and helped her end up in the hospital, but I had to admit, Marcus was pretty clever with his planning.

This wasn't going to cause anyone any physical harm. We didn't have to hurt anybody and this might actually work.

Maybe I could get Emmett to myself.

Maybe there could be a future for us.

He even told me about what had happened with Bay . . . what really happened. It didn't sound like Marcus had meant to hurt her. He said that things had just gotten out of hand. Emmett wasn't even in the room when Bay got hurt. He could have misinterpreted what happened.

Getting back into my car, I picked up my cell phone that I had left on the passenger seat. I had two text messages. One was from Toby.

_Where are you? Bay woke up._

I exited the text and went to open the second one. This one was from my mom. It was pretty much the same as Toby's.

_Bay is awake, but there is a problem. Where are you?_

_A problem? She's awake. That's good, isn't it? What else is going on?_

I sent my mom a quick text saying that I had left the hospital to visit a friend and that I was on my way back now. I then tossed my phone back into the passenger seat, buckled up, and pulled out of the driveway.

_**Bay's Point of View**_

It was a weird feeling. These body parts that I used to be able to move without even thinking about it, now appeared to be lifeless.

My right arm was just lying at my side. No matter how hard I willed it to move, it just wouldn't. My leg was the same way.

It was so strange. I was so used to being able to move these limbs that I had taking that simple luxury for granted.

_What if this was permanent? Would I ever be able to walk again? What about my arm? _

I looked over at Emmett who was still sitting to my left and I instantly felt guilty for my worries.

Emmett had always been disabled. He had been born Deaf. He didn't know what it was like to be able to hear and he got by just fine. He didn't care what anybody thought about him. He was happy with who he was.

In the end, what did it matter if I couldn't walk? At least I could still hear.

I turned towards the door when I heard someone enter.

My mom ran over to me and pulled me into a hug. She didn't say anything. Instead, she let the tears in her eyes continue to fall as she held me.

I pulled my left hand out of my boyfriend's grip to wrap around my mom's shoulder.

I could see Regina coming in through the door. Our eyes made contact as she slowly entered the room. She looked worried.

The doctor must have told them.

I pulled out of my mom's hug and looked at her tear-streaked face. "What did the doctor tell you? Can he do anything?"

"No," she sniffled as she slowly shook her head. "He doesn't know what's going on yet. He wants to run some more tests."

My mom, Regina, and I all turned to look at the door again when we heard voices approaching. Emmett turned to see what had caught our attention as my dad and the doctor walked in.

My dad moved over to stand next to Regina while the doctor moved around to my right side.

"Can you try moving your arm again for me?" he asked.

I stared at my arm, again begging for it to move, but it was no use.

"Now your leg?"

Again nothing.

All eyes turned to the doctor for answers.

He first turned to look at his watch and then wrote something down on the papers he had in his hands.

"Okay," he said, as he closed the folder and turned to face the room full of anxious people. "I would like to take her in for the CT scan now. That should give us more information on what's going on."

I turned to see my dad nodding. "How soon will it take us to get the results?"

"Not long. It's all done on the computer, so it should only take a couple minutes."

My parents continued to ask a couple more questions about the procedure.

As they talked, I turned to look at Emmett. He gave me a small smile of encouragement and squeezed my hand.

"It's going to take me a couple minutes to get the room set up for the scan. I'll be right back," and the doctor was gone.

_**Toby's Point of View**_

Daphne came running into the hospital lobby and scanned the room quickly before having her eyes make contact with me. She had a look of worry and concern on her face. She hurried over and sat down next to me; where Tia had sat just minutes earlier.

"I got your text. What's going on?" She didn't bother with signing to me.

Instead, of answering her I asked my own question. "Where have you been?" I most have spoke louder than I intended to, because a couple people turned to stare at us. Daphne took no notice of any of this.

"I was with a friend. What's going on with Bay?" Obviously trying to just get us back on topic.

I gave up trying to interrogate her and just gave in. "She's awake, but . . . there's a problem. The doctor is running some tests right now."

She stared at me, wanting me to give her some more information, but I couldn't say it. I couldn't make myself say the words. _Bay is paralyzed._

"What's the problem?" she asked, trying to drag it out of me.

I couldn't look at her. I didn't want to have to say it.

_Paralyzed? Bay?_

I turned away from her and saw Emmett approaching us. _What was he doing? Why wasn't he with Bay?_

I stood up to meet him half way. "What's going on?" I put the middle finger on both of my hands close to my chest and moved my hands up to perform the sign.

Emmett signed slowly back to me to make sure I caught it all. "The doctor just took Bay to do the CT scan."

Somebody than came up behind me and pushed me aside, kind of roughly. Daphne then moved to take my place in front of Emmett and started to sign to him.

After my initial shock past from bring throwing aside, I tried to keep up with what they were saying.

I didn't catch most of it, though I did recognized signs like 'Bay', 'doctor', and 'CT scan', but that was about it. I figured Emmett was also telling her about Bay's new problem, but I didn't know what the sign was for 'half paralyzed'.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad heading towards us.

"Anything new?" I asked when he got closer to us.

He shook his head. "Bay is getting scanned right now, but she is probably going to be here for at least a couple days. I'm heading back to the house to pack something's for her. Any of you want to come with me?" He was looking at me for most of this, but then looked towards the other two for the last part.

As expected, Emmett shook his head. He wanted to stay close to Bay.

"I'm going to stay here, too," Daphne said and signed for Emmett's benefit. She had already left once. She should stay a little while now to check on Bay.

That just left me.

"I'll help you pack," I answered turning back to my dad.

He just nodded and turned to head for the door.

I turned back to Emmett real quick to ask him to text me if they found out anything while we were gone.

He nodded and I turned to catch up to my dad.


End file.
